A FORMER Aycliffe Angel and her ex-Royal Marine husband are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary.

Billy and Betty Tomlinson have lived in West Auckland all their married life.

They have a daughter, Valerie, and two granddaughters, Susan and Nichola.

It was a cheeky kiss on West Auckland village green which sealed the couple's love. They married at St Helen's Church, on August 30, 1941.

Mr Tomlinson, 81, said: "We were sitting on one of the benches on the green. I was about 17 and Betty was getting up to 18. There were four or five of us, so I put a coat over our heads and give her a big kiss, and we have been together ever since."

A week after their wedding, Mr Tomlinson was posted overseas. He served in the Middle and Far East, while Mrs Tomlinson worked at the Newton Aycliffe munitions factory as a chief inspector of armaments.

Mrs Tomlinson, 82, gave up work when her daughter was born.

Mr Tomlinson said: "Betty kept saying I hope we make it to our diamond wedding. On my card to her I wrote 'We made it'.

"We have had our ups and downs, but we have stuck at it and we are as much in love today as we were then."

The couple celebrated their anniversary day at their home in Arnold Street.

But the big party will come when their granddaughter, Nichola, gets married in three weeks' time.

The whole family will gather to make it a double celebration.