A FORMER policeman and his wife are celebrating 60 years of marriage.

John Robert "Bob'' and Alice Chambers, of Gilesgate, Durham, received congratulations from The Queen, yesterday, the diamond anniversary of their wedding at the Wesleyan Chapel in Willington, County Durham.

Then, Mr Chambers was serving in the Royal Maritime Artillery, manning guns on merchant ships.

His bride, who he met at dances and chapel socials, worked for armaments maker Vickers Armstrong at Crook and Newcastle.

After the war, Mr Chamberjoined the County Durham police force, which covered the area from the Tees to the Tyne.

He was stationed at various places in the county and finished his career in 1976 as a sergeant in the control room of the reorganised force's Durham City headquarters.

The couple have four grown-up children: one lives in New Zealand, another in Australia, and 14 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The couple will celebrate tomorrow with a dinner party for 50 relatives and friends at Durham Masonic Hall.

Mr Chambers said: "The secret of a long marriage is sticking together and looking after each other. There aren't many who do that.''