A 70-year-old pensioner is desperately seeking his long lost-love who he last saw in Hendon 50 years ago.

John Cupis and his childhood sweetheart Sylvia Mary Pickering were an item for two years when they were both studying at Hendon Technical College, now Middlesex University.

But they lost touch after splitting up in 1960 and have never seen each other since.

After losing his wife, Jackie, to ovarian cancer in September 2007 after 45 years of marriage, Mr Cupis is now determined to honour his wife's last wish and find his former love.

He said: "My wife and I were together for many many years and she knew I still carried a torch for Sylvia. In the final year of her life she even got onto Friends Reunited to try to find her.

"She was a wonderful wife. Some of her last words to me were: 'You're no good on your own, go and find Sylvia'."

Mr Cupis, who now lives in Bath, met Sylvia in 1958 when he was a 21-year-old engineer apprentice at Handley Page Aircraft, in Cricklewood, and she was a 16-year-old trainee cadet nurse. She lived in The Chase, Burnt Oak, Edgware, with her mother and stepfather, a retired gas fitter.

A tracing agency has confirmed that Sylvia's mother died at the same address in 1994, aged 93. But Mr Cupis is confident Sylvia is alive because there is no evidence of a death certificate.

Mr Cupis said: "I know it is a hopeless search, but I feel I have to find her and discover is she is happy and healthy, safe and well.

"My feelings for Sylvia run very very deep. My mother, my cousins, my family friends, all were nurses and all were icons. I always knew I wanted to marry a nurse from the age of 11 because they were so very special to me.

"When Sylvia rejected me it was not because I was bad or unsuitable or weak, but because I was a distraction when she wanted to form a career. I am hoping that has feeling has passed now."

When Sylvia left the college in 1960 she started work at Norbiton Hospital, Kingston-on-Thames, with the intention of becoming a paedratric nurse. She is believed to have married a man called Alan Parr sometime in 1966.

Distinctive character traits Mr Cupis remembers about his old girlfriend include her devotion to Tommy Steele, her great clothes-making ability and her resourcefulness.

"One of her favourite mantras was, 'If you can't afford it, make it'," said Mr Cupis. "Those words have stuck with me until today. Indeed, I have tried to model my own life around those words."

Anyone with information about Sylvia can contact Mr Cupis at cupis@btinternet.com or contact reporter Rebecca Lowe at rlowe@london.newsquest.co.uk or call the newsdesk on 020 8359 5845.