Patricia Hockley despaired of ever finding Mr Right. The 38-year-old single mum had tried all the normal avenues and had just about given up when she was persuaded to join an introduction agency, writes Katherine MacAlister.

Now happily wed to her first blind date Chris, after a whirlwind romance, Patricia is positively blooming with contentment and is proof enough that a little help goes a long way.

Her success will warm many a worried heart. In the wake of Bridget Jones, single 30-somethings will no doubt have worked themselves into a frenzy trying to find the perfect soul mate.

Bridget Jones' Diary was the hit novel of the year, detailing a single woman's quest to find her man. There was something in it every woman could identify with and a Bridget Jones night dedicated a whole Saturday evening's viewing to finding that special someone. In an effort to reassure them we spoke to Helen Boucher, of Elite Introductions in Kirtlington, who has engineered four weddings this year alone in Oxfordshire through her match-making efforts. Patricia, from Bicester, has been married for just over a month, having met Chris in March this year.

She said: "I have to keep pinching myself. Sometimes I just can't believe it. It hasn't really sunk in yet."

That she is blissfully happy is evident. But Patricia is the first to admit she was an unlikely candidate for an introduction agency.

"I'm very shy. If you ask any of my friends they would never guess I met Chris through an agency. But it was the only way to meet someone."

Patricia got divorced five years ago after her first husband left her and their six-year-old daughter for someone else. She was devastated by the betrayal and after several failed relationship wondered if her knight in shining armour would ever arrive on the horizon. "I didn't like going out on my own and I don't drink so I couldn't go to pubs really. It was hard. But I decided I didn't want to spend another Christmas on my own and in February I joined Elite. But I insisted on seeing the offices and talking to another member first. I didn't want to join something dodgy and I was nervous about being fixed up with someone inappropriate."

She needn't have worried. Helen Boucher suspected that she and Chris would get on like a house on fire.

Helen said: "Patricia is quite traditional, she's a great cook for example, and I knew Chris would love that. Physically I didn't know how they would get on. That's the one thing you can never guarantee, the chemistry." But Helen's instinct proved correct and the pair hit it off straight away. When Chris phoned to fix a date the couple spent an hour chatting on the phone. As neither drinks they went for a meal and discovered they had a lot in common.

Their next trip was to the cinema and the romance soon blossomed. In May, just a month and a half after meeting, Chris proposed and Patricia accepted straight away.

"I wasn't surprised because we are so alike. We like the same things on TV, eating out and shopping." Chris, 39, a graphic designer, had experienced the same dating hiccups before he met Patricia.

Both are quiet, shy and disliked venturing out into the singles world alone.

And on October 3, the happy couple tied the knot. Since then the newly weds have taken on a new lease of life and have been abroad three times already and moved into a new home in Orchard Way.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.