An Oxenhope couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary yesterday.

George and Joyce Dykes, both 81, were married at Lowertown Methodist Church, on July 17, 1943.

The pair knew each other through village life and started dating when they were 19 when they attended dances together.

George is a former lorry driver, working for several companies and textile mills in Oxenhope and Keighley before he retired in 1986.

He also served as a stoker in the navy. Based at Lowestoft, he served on minesweepers, which had been converted from fishing trawlers, to sweep the North Sea and lead convoys. In 1943 he went to South Africa to conduct the same job along the African coast.

Joyce worked as a weaver immediately after she left school at Hield Brothers. During the war she worked at munitions factory, Prince Smiths, until returning to weaving at the end of the conflict.

They have three children Jim, John and Roy, eight grandchildren and 2 great-granddaughters. The former two own a garage in Haworth and Roy is a butcher. The pair enjoy dancing, walking and gardening as well as helping with their family.

To celebrate, they are having a party at The Three Sister's Hotel, Haworth, when more than 100 friends and family will join them.

Joyce explained the reason for their lasting relationship.

She said: "We always pull together and work together. We have built our relationship and never fallen out. We get on very well together."