TEARS flowed as pensioner Cyril Hicks tried to come to terms with the supreme act of kindness which has given him and his severely disabled wife Maddie a warm home for the first time in months.

War veteran Cyril, 87, thanked the task force of Good Samaritans who installed a new boiler and a complete heating system for free, thanks to the Daily Echo highlighting their plight.

Cyril, who suffers from a severe chest complaint, and his disabled wife, for whom he is the main carer, had been left in the cold after their boiler packed up in September.

Warm Front, the government body that hands out grants to help vulnerable people to keep warm, told the couple that they would have to wait six months for a replacement because they were not a priority case.

Cyril and 85-year-old Maddie, who is a paraplegic and suffers from Alzheimer's disease, were forced to abandon the top floor of their home in Margarita Road, Fareham, because it was too cold.

Last month the Royal British Legion, which had been trying to help the couple, moved them into a care home because it was concerned about the effects of the cold on their health.

But Southampton-based plumber Keith Gillyon came to the resuce after reading about the couple's plight in the Daily Echo.

Cyril said: "I was just so completely overwhelmed. I have never seen such a magnanimous gesture in my life. We are so grateful to all these people and the Daily Echo."