A BUSY couple who devote their lives to public service celebrated their golden wedding yesterday.

Councillors Sonny and Margaret Douthwaite spend many hours working for the good of their home community of St Helen Auckland, near Bishop Auckland.

They are the only husband and wife to have served as chairman of Wear Valley District Council, where Mrs Douthwaite is still a member and chairs the licensing committee.

Mr Douthwaite joined Durham County Council in 1997, and is now chairman of highways, one of the busiest posts on the authority.

They met as teenagers growing up in West Auckland in the late 1940s, and married six years after they first got together in 1950.

The same year, Mr Douthwaite started work for the Ministry of Defence naval supplies at Eaglescliffe, where he stayed for 43 years.

During that time, he had three tours of duty at sea and was close to action in the Falklands and the Gulf.

Mrs Douthwaite used to work at Bellerbys wallpaper store, in Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland, and later as a cleaner at Bishop Auckland General Hospital.

They shared their celebrations last night with their family, sons Geoffrey and Neil and daughters Eleanor Anderson and Susan Denham. They have four grandchildren.

Mr Douthwaite said: "We lead busy lives and we rarely see each other during the day, but it works for us.

"We love our work in the community and we understand what each other does. It never stops being interesting."