IT was love at first sight for Ces and Margaret Crawford.

Every night after work at a warehouse, Ces, 89, asked the pretty help desk assistant at Durham City bus station, then called Margaret Hall, 91, for the time of the last bus.

Eventually, he plucked up the courage to ask her out and, yesterday, the couple proved it was a risk worth taking when they celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.

Ces joined the police force and was stationed in Bishop Auckland and Jarrow before serving in Europe in the Second World War as an armoured car driver with the 11th Hussars, 7th Armoured Division, the Desert Rats.

After the war, he rejoined the force and served in Durham, Bishop Auckland, Houghton-le-Spring and Newton Aycliffe, for three decades. He then worked in the surveyors department at Durham County Council for 13 years before retiring.

During the war, Margaret worked as a telephonist and later in the accounts department at the General Electric Company, in Newton Aycliffe.

The couple, of Church Close, Newton Aycliffe, have three children - Ronald, who died two years ago, and Muriel and Eric and two grandchildren, Emma and Guy.

Ces said: "The secret to our marriage is that if in doubt I just say 'that's right dear'. In reality, it is about give and take and remembering that it is easier to smile than to frown."