TV viewers will see the revival of a heartbroken man’s 50-year-old love affair on Valentine’s Day.

Dick Masters, 84, is to be reunited with a Second World War Jeep badly damaged in a fire at his home in Malvern Terrace, Taunton.

His sons, Richard and Mark, and grandson, Neill, rolled up their sleeves to help restore the Willy’s Jeep to pristine condition for the Car SOS series, which sees classic vehicles renovated for their unsuspecting owners.

Presenters Tim Shaw and Fizz Townshend fooled Dick into thinking they were sprucing up his pride and joy, which he bought from the MoD, to use as a film prop in a battle scene.

A spokesman for the programme, being shown at 8pm next Thursday, Valentine’s Day, on the National Geographic Channel, said: “Dick has attended many military shows with the Jeep, and it’s firmly planted and loved within the family, and holds a lot of happy memories for him and his sons.

“Dick’s always tinkering and fixing the Jeep, but it has been unusable since a fire at his home.

“Instead of trying to save his house, Dick ran to the garage to save the Jeep and had to be physically restrained by firefighters!”