50 reply to love message in a bottle
A WIDOWER who sparked outrage when he set 2,000 message in a bottle love notes adrift in beauty spots across the UK has said he now has 50 potential dates.
Craig Sullivan decided to find love again after losing his wife Julie to breast cancer 18 months ago.
At first he tried more conventional methods such as online dating and a match-making service, but Cupid failed to strike.
The 4 -year-old, who grew up in Bearsden, Dunbartonshire, came up with his old-fashioned plan earlier this month after listening to the 1 7 Police hit Message in a Bottle, and dropped his collection in Wales and Somerset.
But his plan backfired when he was reported to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) for releasing 200 bottles into the River Cree in Wigtownshire. Mr Sullivan, a website analyst, gave up his search for love, telling the BBC: ‘The abuse was not very good. It was never my intent to harm the environment. It was more accident, naivety as well as stupidity in the execution.
‘It was just my intention to send a wee love bottle with a message to someone I had not yet met.’
But the father of two, who lives in London, said he has now received 50 responses from women, including one from Ireland, and one from the west of Scotland.
He added: ‘I am genuinely sorry for upsetting people, but I do not regret what I did.’
A SEPA spokesman said: ‘Our officers are comfortable there is no environmental risk to the Cree as a result of the bottles being released and, following inquiries, understand almost all of the bottles were contained and removed from the river by local residents.’