WHEN Jean Mundell jumped the canteen queue on her first day at work one of the factory machinists waiting behind her remarked "by she's got a cheeky face".

Little did Jean know that after that first meeting their friendship would eventually blossom into a lifelong love, with Robert 'Bobby' Mundell becoming her husband.

Celebrating their diamond anniversary at their home in West Auckland, County Durham, Jean, 82, said: "I had left school on the Friday and started work in Cardinal Cabinets in Cockfield on the Monday. I was just 16 years old.

"I jumped the queue in the canteen and Bobby saw me standing in front of him. He said to his mates "by she's got a cheeky face", because I had gone in front of him. He caught me eye and I must have caught his."

She added: "We saw each other every day at work after that. He asked me to go out with him when I was 17. But he was courting another girl from Cockfield at the time and I wouldn't. I said he had to finish with her first.

"You have to have your principles, don't you? But he finished with her and started going out with me. I was pleased when he told me he had ended it with her.

"I wasn't going to miss the chance. I must have been his choice. It must have been love at first sight."

Bobby, 84, said he asked Jean for a dance at the King's Hall, in Bishop Auckland, and has never looked back.

He said: "We have had a happy life together. The main thing is never gone our separate ways. We have always done everything together and gone on many holidays abroad."

Jean added: "We only had half a crown when we came back from honeymoon. We have done well for ourselves and had a lovely baby daughter, Wendy, who is 58, and two grandchildren."