IT WAS love at first sight for a couple who are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary.

Eric Wilson and his friend were in Ward Jackson Park, Hartlepool, when they spotted two girls.

Mr Wilson, now 86, persuaded his friend to go and ask them out and he and his wife, Irene, have been together ever since.

At the time, he was 21 and Mrs Wilson was 15. They married five years later at St Paul's Church, West Hartlepool, on September 21, 1941.

Their honeymoon was spent in Leeds, where they stayed with Mr Wilson's sister.

The couple will mark their diamond wedding anniversary tomorrow with family and friends at St Helen's Nursing Home, St Helen Auckland.

Mr Wilson was in the Army when they were married. After serving in the Second World War he left the forces in 1946 and became a steelworker.

Mr and Mrs Wilson had two children, Maureen, 58, and Derek, who died at the age of 32.

They also have two granddaughters, Victoria, 33, and Beverley, 34, and two great-granddaughters, Alex, ten, and Aimee, seven.

Most of their married life was spent living in Hartlepool, but the couple moved to Hamsterley, where they lived for 20 years after falling in love with the village.

They now live at St Helen's Nursing Home, St Helen Auckland.

Jacqueline Renshaw, from the nursing home, said: "They are a lovely couple and we are delighted to be able to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary with them."