Gordon and Nora Watts from Banbury, in Oxfordshire, were separated because social services said it was too expensive for them to live together.

Mrs Watts, 83, was put into a nursing home in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, while her 88-year-old husband was placed in a home 20 miles away in Culworth, Northamptonshire.

As the couple were finally reunited at the Northamptonshire home during emotional scenes on Friday, Mrs Watts said: "He's always been in my thoughts."

We wanted to bring the two together, but there had been other individuals who were living in very difficult circumstances who we had to prioritise initially

Oxfordshire social services

Son Geoffrey Watts said: "They've been married nearly 61 years and they were only apart during the war and apart from his operation they've been together."

The couple said they had struggled being apart.

The situation was condemned by Help The Aged charity as "outrageous and cruel".

Overly bureaucratic

Liam Fox MP, Conservative health spokesman, said: "At last, common sense and decency have prevailed.

"Mr and Mrs Watts were paying the price of a system dominated by bureaucrats not patients.

"When will ministers finally realise that older people are the victims of their obsession with spending money on hospitals at the expense of care elsewhere?"

Mrs Watts was put into the home when her husband went into hospital in August.

Funding problems

They were meant to go to the Culworth home together when he came out.

But Oxfordshire social services said it did not have the money.

Social services said it was unable to find money for Mr Watts because of the urgency of avoiding bed-blocking in the hospital where he had been treated.

'Higher priority'

Mrs Watts was then placed in Spencer Court, Woodstock, where social services had pre-paid block bookings and so there was no extra cost to accommodate her.

"To move Mrs Watts to the same home as her husband requires additional funding, and this could not be found immediately because of cases of higher priority need," said a spokesman.

Charles Waddicor, director of Oxfordshire social services said: "We wanted to bring the two together but there had been other individuals who were living in very difficult circumstances who we had to prioritise initially.

"But now, happily, we've been able to bring them together."