AN OAP is searching for the holiday sweetheart from the Vale he met 60 years ago to say, “I’m sorry.”

Leslie Yates is pleading with people in Dumbarton and the Vale to help find Carolyn McKenzie, who he met on the Isle of Man in 1961.

The couple were inseparable on the holiday which lead Leslie from Lancashire to eventually getting a summer job in a desperate bid to spend more time with her.

He said that it was his “lifelong regret” breaking his promise to meet up four years later when she unexpectedly wrote a letter to him that said she was visiting friends near his home town.

The 80-year-old told the Reporter: “I explained in my letter back to her that I had changed and that to see her again would not be a good idea and that to resurrect the relationship would be too painful for us both.

“I realized later that I had broken a solemn promise to see her again, which is one of my lifelong regrets.”

In July of that year, Leslie and his friend arrived in Douglas on the Isle of Man for a week’s holiday. The then 21-year-old decided to go out for the evening where he met - at the time - the “love of his life”, Carolyn, from Alexandria.

Leslie said: “On the first night of the holiday, we went for an evening in the popular Sefton hotel, sitting next to two girls from Scotland.

“I was quite intrigued with their Scottish accents. I was particularly drawn to one of the girls and, as the night ended, asked her if I could see her again the following day, to which, much to my delight, agreed.”

For the rest of his holiday Leslie and Carolyn became inseparable and spent every opportunity they could together exploring the island.

On the morning Leslie was due to go back to Liverpool he made some enquiries into the hotel and surrounding places in which he secured a job as a waiter to just spend more time with her.

Leslie continued: “She was so happy and surprised to hear of my rash decision, and on arrival were able to watch me struggle carrying drinks around with my white coat and loaned black baggy trousers, which were about three sizes too big for me.”

However, the day that Leslie and Carolyn dreaded arrived and he had to say goodbye as she went home.

He said: “I made a solemn vow that I would see her again and, at the time, really meant what I said.

“Because of the distance and the lack of any means of getting to Alexandria, the chances of meeting up with Carolyn became more remote. I had to rebuild my life and try to forget the girl that stole my heart.”

Four years later, Carolyn wrote to Leslie to tell him she was visiting Burnley to see some friends which was only a 12-mile journey for him.

As much as he was delighted by the news he turned down the offer as he just want to “cause pain” by continuing the relationship, a decision he very much regretted.

He said: “I married a lovely girl a couple of years later, and we have been happily married for 54 years with children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, my wife contracted multiple sclerosis in 1997, and since then, I have been her full-time carer.”

Since the whirlwind holiday Leslie has said he often thinks about Carolyn by little reminders in his everyday life.

He said: “When I hear the popular song that was going at the time ‘My Little Runaway’ by Del Shannon I often think about her.

“I would also like to say how deeply sorry I am that I did not keep my promise to see her again.”