SHE loves dancing and he has two left feet, but Joe and Susie Marsland are still happy stepping out together after six decades of marriage.

Mr and Mrs Marsland, both 82, from Ox Close Crescent, in Spennymoor, celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary yesterday.

The couple met in February 1945 when both were working at an aircraft factory towards the end of the Second World War, and by June they were engaged.

On December 22 of the same year, they married at the former Tudhoe Grange Methodist Church, in Susie's home town of Spennymoor.

Mr Marsland said: "We just hit it off immediately and have been very happy in each other's company.

"I always wanted to dance and Joe hated it - he did try, but much prefers outdoor sports. It doesn't matter, we've been very happy together," Mrs Marsland added.

Once married, they lived in Manchester for almost three years until moving to Spennymoor. Both spent spells at Smart and Brown's and Siemens, and Mr Marsland went to work at the Black and Decker plant in the 1960s and stayed there until he retired in 1979.

The couple have one daughter - Jean Hartley, 56 - and lots of friends and family in the area who will celebrate their anniversary with a party at Bishop Auckland Golf Club tonight.

Mrs Marsland said: "The secret to a long and successful marriage is that the wife has to learn to show an interest in what the husband does. When Joe played football, I learned about that. When he gave that up to play golf, I learned about that. Now he's moving on to bowls, I have to learn about that."