UNLIKE most husbands, Norman Soulsby could never criticise his mother-in-law - after all, she was also his step-mother.

Norman and Doreen Soulsby, who celebrated 50 years of marriage at the weekend, met after their widowed parents, Mary-Ann and Norman senior, had wed.

Mrs Soulsby takes up the story. "They had been childhood sweethearts," she said, "but split up and married other people. Then they both found themselves alone and met up again and that's how Norman and I met.

"I was about 19 and he was about 23 then, and we married about three years after our parents. I have to admit it was strange at first, but it's like anything, you soon get used to it."

Mr Soulsby, 75, went into the mining industry about a year after their marriage. The couple had two boys and a girl, and are now great-grandparents.

Mr Soulsby has no doubt what is the secret of a long marriage. "Dot's a great cook," he said. Mrs Soulsby, 71, said helping each other was the key.

The couple, from Durham Road, South Stanley, County Durham, married in Stanley and have lived in the area since.

Their children, David, Ian and Karen, all live nearby.