After finally deciding to part ways with his wife, a jubilant husband ticked the official form, left the court and most probably went to celebrate in the pub.

His dismay, however, can only be imagined when he discovered years later - and after marrying his new Brazilian wife - that he had put a cross in the wrong box on the form. He was still legally married.

Despite the legal blunder and fears of committing bigamy, on Friday the man, who has not been identified, won a legal fight to uphold the validity of his divorce.

The man filled in the form in June 2013 and explained in the form how he had married in September 2011 however he also mistakenly ticked a box saying he and his wife had not lived apart for two years.

Sir James Munby, a senior judge who analysed the case at a recent family court hearing in London, suggested that judges and staff who checked the form should have spotted the error.

He said the mistake had eventually been picked up by a member of staff at Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service in central London more than three years after the form was submitted and that the former couple had been "innocent victims of serious mistakes" by court staff and judges.