CHILDHOOD sweethearts Edna and Fred Mounsey say trust and friendship has been the key to their sixty year marriage.

Today is a double celebration occasion for Mrs Mounsey, from Biscop Crescent, Newton Aycliffe, who is not only celebrating her diamond wedding anniversary but also her 79th birthday.

The couple met when she was 17 and married two years later, on July 20, 1944, at St Mary's Church, Norton.

For years they lived in Stockton, with Mr Mounsey, 83, working as a boilermaker, and Mrs Mounsey at ICI.

In 1963 they moved to Darlington and ran the Lord Nelson pub in Parkgate, then The Archdeacon in Cockerton.

The pair were also behind the bar of The White Swan, Thirsk, in the late 1960s, before spending 15 years at The Oak Tree, in Newton Aycliffe.

Their daughter, Pat Ainslie, 58, of Darlington, who is one of four children, said her parents shared a close bond.

She said: "My parents always say that trust and friendship has kept them together. They enjoyed working together and have shared lots of experiences.

"They have nine grand-children who they love very dearly."