A COUPLE who have spent years helping others received a special congratulations card from the Queen on their diamond wedding.

Brian Hashagen, 89, has been a volunteer for the Citizen's Advice Bureau and a tourist guide and his wife Hilary, 85, a former teacher, has helped organise a books-on-wheels service.

She said: "We have a happy life together. We were very surprised to get the letter from the Queen."

"She wished us congratulations for our 60 years of marriage."

The couple do not know why they received the special honour, but think a kind friend may have requested it on their behalf.

"We have not done anything special, we just always liked helping people."

The couple, of Garden Flats Lane, Dunnington, met due to a chance meeting in Bradford in the 1940s when Brian asked Hilary for directions to the swimming pool.

He was strolling through a park with an army colleague when he spotted her on a bench.

Brian arrived for his swim to discover the pool was closed and returned to chat to Hilary and ask her on a date.

The couple, who are committed to their charity work, were eventually married in November 1945, and recently celebrated their anniversary.

"I think it was fate," said Brian, who served in the Royal Pioneer Corps during the Second World War. "I proposed to her on the first week we met. She said she would marry me when I made the rank of Major!"

Brian, who lived in Acomb for many years, said they were married during his 28-day period of home leave during the war and the plans had to be rearranged twice because of unexpected delays.

"Hilary means everything to me," he said. "It wasn't very nice leaving her after the wedding. We didn't see each other again for seven months. In those days you just accepted the drawbacks."

Brian dedicated himself to voluntary work after retiring from his job as a sales manager for Unilever. Hilary, a teacher at Poppleton Road Primary School for many years, also spent her time helping charities.

"I remember Brian looked interesting in his uniform when I met him in the park and had nice shoes on because he was an officer," she said. I just had a general feeling that he was the right one."

The couple have two sons, Stuart and Nicholas, and five grandchildren.

Updated: 09:46 Tuesday, November 29, 2005