WAR-TIME wedded bliss has endured for a County Durham couple, who enjoyed their diamond wedding day with friends and family.

John, better known as Don, and Annie, 'Nan', Armstrong, played host to a non-stop stream of well-wishers at their home in Ludworth, near Durham.

The couple, who met during the Second World War when Mrs Armstrong worked as an assistant at the Co-op store in Haswell, married at the village church in 1944.

They initially lived in a temporary pre-fabricated home in Haswell Plough before moving to Ludworth, where Mr Armstrong was a pitman at the colliery.

He later transferred to Thornley and ended his working days at Easington Colliery, retiring when the pit closed in the early 1990s.

Mrs Armstrong left the Co-op and worked as an Avon lady, selling cosmetics on home visits, and at Peterlee's former Tudor Crisps factory.

The couple have four children, Brenda, Bob, Angela and Donna, five grand-children and five great-grandchildren.

Although most of the family still live in close proximity, Angela travelled from Bangkok in Thailand, where she is an administrator at an international school, to be with her parents on their 60th wedding anniversary last week.

She said it had been a "marvellous day" as a host of neighbours and relatives called at her parents' home in Barnard Avenue.

"They have had a great day. It's looking like Kew Gardens with the number of flowers and bouquets that have been delivered."