TWO mayors had a busy day visiting two couples celebrating their diamond wedding anniversaries yesterday.

Spennymoor Town Mayor John Culine and Sedgefield Borough Mayor Marie Pedki joined Ken and Laura Titshall and Mary and Dick Fawcett to help them celebrate 60 years of marriage.

Mr and Mrs Titshall, both 83, of Catherine Close, met at Raby Castle, near Staindrop, where they were stationed as an Army driver and Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) cook during the Second World War.

When the couple married they lived in Ken's home town, Ipswich, for two years before moving to Spennymoor in 1948.

Mr Titshall worked at Coxhoe quarry, then Thorns lighting factory, and Mrs Titshall was a waitress.

They have a son, three daughters, five grandchildren and a great grandson.

Mr Titshall said: "There are some things I can't do so Laura helps me and some she can't do so I help her, you have to always work together."

Mr and Mrs Fawcett, 79, and 82 respectively, from Parkside, Spennymoor, met at a West Cornforth dance but had to wait weeks before they met again and began courting.

When they married, Mr Fawcett worked at coal pits in Bowburn and Mansfield then at Courtalds and Thorns factories, Mrs Fawcett was a clerical worker. They have a son, Richard, and a granddaughter.

Mr Fawcett said "simply love" is the secret to their long and happy marriage.

Mrs Fawcett: "You sometimes have to work through things but we've always been friends and had good times."