THEY went out on a bet – and now June and Peter Abbott are today celebrating 50 years of marriage.

The couple, of Stockton Lane, York, first met when they were both working at the then British Road Services in Foss Islands Road. A friend of Peter’s, then 18, bet he could not get a date with June, who was 17.

“I overheard someone saying to Peter that he could not get a date with me and I thought I want to help him win it,” said June, now 70.

“We went on a date and we have not looked back.”

June and Peter, 71, married in 1961 at St Edward The Confessor Church, in Dringhouses, and went on to have two children, Sharon, 42, and Andrew, 38.

The couple who spent their working lives at British Road Services now have grandchildren, Ellis, 17, Jake, 12, Tristan, ten, Lewis, nine, Reece, six, and Ella, five.

The couple’s family have organised a surprise golden wedding celebration for the couple today.

June said the secret to a happy marriage is sharing everything together. “We have no secrets and we never spend time apart,” she said.