I’m old enough to be his mum but we fell in love' - woman, 55 (PHOTOS)

After 30 years in London, Polly Francis moved to The Gambia when she met hotel receptionist Lamin Sarr eight years ago.

The retired nurse, who is in her 50s, used inheritance money to build them a home. She said: “I know I’m old enough to be his mum and that people must think I just came here looking for a toyboy but I didn’t. I fell in love.

“He is a gentleman — quiet and strong, my best friend.”

‘Polly and I are real’ … Lamin Sarr embraces Polly Francis, who he calls his ‘wife’

Polly — who has just had a hip replacement — can’t afford the £800 UK visa for Lamin and they are not married because she is not yet divorced from her husband.

She said: “Our home here has no running water but I wouldn’t swap it for London. I don’t miss the rushing around. I do miss my family, though.”

She has a daughter and two sons — aged 40 and 30 — and said: “My elder son found my relationship hard to accept but my younger son has been to visit us. He and Lamin get on well.”

And Lamin, 33, said: “I love Polly. I call her ‘the wife’. The men who marry for the wrong reasons are trying their luck.

“I don’t blame them. But Polly and I are real. She makes me happy — she is wonderful.”