WHEN young George Clarkson caught the eye of the village beauty, while out cycling, he decided he had to ask her for a date.

A visit to the cinema and love blossomed, leading eventually to his marriage to his sweetheart, Irene.

Now, 60 years later, having weathered the separation of war and having enjoyed many fruitful and happy years together, the couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary, at the weekend.

Mr Clarkson, 84, a retired Scotland Yard CID commander, now living in Belmont, Durham City, described how he was cycling in Crimdon Dene when he first saw his wife.

He said: "Irene worked in an office for Easington council.

"I eyed her up, while out cycling one day.

"She was one of the Crimdon Dene beauty queens - and she is still as pretty as ever."

After starting a courtship, the couple moved down south.

Mr Clarkson joined the Metropolitan Police, in wartime London, while his bride-to-be moved to Luton.

They married, and Mr Clarkson, who volunteered to become a fighter pilot, was posted away.

Mrs Clarkson, an accomplished artist, who has exhibited at the Royal Academy, said: "He went off and I never saw him for three years. I never heard anything from him for a while, until a whole bag of letters arrived - most of them heavily censored with blue pencil.

"When I saw him again I did not recognise him, he had lost so much weight."

Mr Clarkson said there was no secret to having a long and happy marriage.

He said: "It is just a question of having a happy understanding. It is give and take.