The ex-husband of a British grandmother-of-six who married a Nigerian 45 years her junior is being scammed by a man who just wants to get into the United Kingdom, her ex-husband has said.

Speaking with Daily Mail on Friday, Donald Neate, 71, described his former partner Angela Nwachukwu, 72, as “gullible” and said she has “got herself into a problem that she will have to deal with”.

Mrs Nwachukwu, from Weymouth, Dorset, is fighting for a visa for new husband CJ Nwachukwu, 27, who she married three months after he added her on Facebook and struck up a conversation.

They live 4,000 miles away and met face-to-face for the first time on their wedding day, but his application for a visa has been refused.

Retired taxi driver Mrs Nwachukwu has spent £20,000 on him, including lawyers to help with the visas and flights to visit him, but says he had repaid her half.

Mr Neate, a former lorry driver from Bristol, said: “We separated 18 years ago and haven’t had any contact since.

“The first time I knew about it was when I read the papers. She has been scammed by a man who just wants to get into the country.”

Mrs Nwachukwu said she couldn’t help but fall for her lover from Nigeria, when they started talking, and is devastated that their applications for visas have failed.

She told The Sun she had been left lonely and isolated after the breakdown of her marriage, six months before they met online.

Mr Neate has remarried twice since his five-year relationship with Mrs Nwachukwu ended.