LOVING couple Maureen and Jack Taylor have turned sleuth to make their Golden Wedding anniversary celebrations complete.

They will be attending a thanksgiving mass for their 50-years of marriage and have booked premises for a special knees up.

Nancy Weatherall (nee O'Connell) and Maureen Jenkins (nee Nesbitt) were bridesmaids at the wedding and they will be at Billingham for the celebrations on August 8.

But Mrs Taylor is desperate to find the third whose maiden name was Betty Dent.

Mrs Taylor is now in a race against time to try to locate her friend.

The daughter of a Durham County Council alderman, school teacher Betty, married and may have moved to Cropton, near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, in the mid 1950s.

Mrs Taylor said: "I think it would be the icing on the cake if I was able to see her again. I hope to make amends for the lost years.''

Mrs Taylor was a force in local politics on Teesside for many years, stepping down from Stockton Borough Council in 1999 after years of service with that council and the now defunct Cleveland County Council where she held senior positions.

Anyone who knows of Betty's whereabouts is asked to call (01642) 554786