Two telephone friends, who live more than 200 miles apart, have finally met face-to-face.

Sally Griffiths travelled all the way to Maidstone from Exeter to surprise her unsuspecting pal Jenny Hossack.

A coffee morning Jenny regularly attends at Ledian Gardens retirement village in Leeds turned into something special when Sally turned up.

Despite having never met each other in person, the ladies have formed a supportive friendship over the phone.

Driving four-and-a-half hours, Sally left her home in Exeter the day before the emotional meeting, travelling around 203 miles.

The 52-year-old explained: "I’ve known about the surprise for two or three weeks.

"All I could think about was Jenny’s reaction – I was just so excited about meeting her!"

The pals initially got in contact through Inspired Friendships, a scheme created in 2020 by the Inspired Villages retirement company to prevent older people from feeling isolated.

They organise coffee mornings, lunch time meet-ups, bus trips, and walks in the park.

A phone service, named Calls of Friendships, was also used during lockdown when these activities couldn't take place.

Friendship manager and organiser Wendy Pfeiffer said: "For so many people, this telephone conversation was the only contact they had with another person.

"It was a time when location did not matter, as was proved by many long-distance friendships that were formed.

"Although Jenny was a little bit hesitant at the beginning, she gave it a go."

Jenny and Sally were put in touch, and since then have been calling each other every week, for an hour or so, for the past two years.

They say they have a "similar sense of humour" and instantly bonded over the fact they are both originally from Devon.

Sally, who is an assistant manager at Inspired's Millbrook Village in Exeter, said: “Getting involved in Inspired Friendships was a natural thing for me to do as I had thought about signing up to Silverline.

"From the first moment that Jenny and I started talking, we hit it off. On our calls we put the world to rights, share our troubles and make each other laugh.

"It is lovely to support Jenny in this way when she may be feeling blue and she has supported me through some difficult times too."

She added: "Our friendship has naturally evolved and we send each other messages, photos and gifts, as well as sharing lots of anecdotes and tips.

"I feel blessed to have Jenny in my life.”

Jenny was at the coffee morning and thought she would be chatting to Sally on the phone. After being told the phone signal was poor, the Ledian Gardens team said they had to do the "next best thing".

Out came Sally with a big grin and a bouquet of flowers.

Retiree Jenny says she was "gobsmacked" after finding out her pal had travelled across the country for her.

"I wasn’t expecting it, I had no inkling. They kept the secret very well," the 77-year-old said.

"At first when they said she was on the phone I immediately choked up. This is lovely and very unexpected."

She added: “In the two years since Sally first phoned me, we have formed a wonderful friendship.

"During our weekly calls, we have shared much laughter along the way, even when one of us started off feeling sad.

"In fact, I think we have helped each other through very uncertain times!"