THEY met while he was on National Service with the RAF in Lincolnshire - and today this York couple are celebrating 60 years of marriage.

Norman, 80, and Mavis Simpson, 79, from the Tadcaster Road area, said they will be celebrating with lunch to mark their diamond wedding.

Mrs Simpson said: “We met at a dance in the Assembly Rooms in Gainsborough, where I lived. We were married just after Norman had been demobbed, on June 14, 1952.”

The couple then moved to York, where Mr Simpson returned to his job at the Rowntree Mackintosh factory before leaving for an office supply company, where he rose to management level.

Mrs Simpson held a number of part-time jobs and was also a Red Cross volunteer while raising the couple’s two daughters, Andrea and Elaine.

She said the secret to 60 years of happy marriage was allowing each other to have their own interests - Mr Simpson was a keen skier until the age of 74, while his wife said she enjoyed exploring the countryside.