A RETIRED French polisher with a fondness for spinning yarns and a former cloth mill worker have woven together 65 years of happy marriage.

Fred and Mary Burns, of Durham Street, Spennymoor, celebrated their sapphire wedding anniversary on Wednesday and received so many flowers that even their bathroom was full of bouquets.

The couple met in Bradford when Mrs Burns was 14 and her future husband 16.

The couple stayed in Yorkshire, where Mr Burns, 87, worked as a French polisher.

His wife worked as a mender in a cloth mill, until they moved to County Durham seven years ago to be near their daughter Dee.

Taking pride of place in their living room and bedroom are two of the 20 spinning wheels Fred made in his spare time.

Mrs Burns taught her husband to knit, and he now spins his own wool and knits bedsocks and scarves for family and friends.

Mr Burns also bakes and grows vegetables, and even finds time for playing computerised chess and looking after his pristine classic car, a 1972 Triumph 2000.

When asked about the secret of their long marriage, Mrs Burns simply said: "Doing everything together."