An English visitor kept plans to renew his wedding vows to his wife of 29 years a secret until a few days before the ceremony.

John Darby of Gloucestershire beamed as he spoke last week about his idea to renew his vows to wife Pauline on the shores of Bermuda.

"When we got married, we only had a registry, as we didn't have a lot of money in those days.

"We've bought a business and have been working real hard solid for the past few years, so I decided to surprise my wife.

"She didn't know until check-in at the airport that we were coming to Bermuda. We had a few little tears, didn't we?'' The couple arrived in Bermuda on June 11 to stay with John's cousin, Sally Anne Smith of Paget.

John said Pauline thought they were leaving Bermuda a week before they really were and had no idea that he had planned to renew his vows to her, or that their children were coming to the Island for the ceremony.

He said he often found it difficult to keep the secret.

"I had to put her off, you see. It was difficult, really. On Saturday we went shopping and she said `let's get the children presents' but I managed to persuade her not to.

''A few people nearly let the cat out of the bag, we had to bluff it, really.'' The couple's two children, James, 26, and Emma, 23, also arrived for the ceremony which was staged at Elbow Beach. A Reverend in Bermuda shorts renewed the couple's vows.