John and Vera Cameron met in 1946 while working at the Ford foundry in Leamington. They began courting and are still together more than 60 years after getting engaged at a Leamington cinema.

Mr Cameron, who served in India during the Second World War, popped the question to his future wife while the couple were on a date at a picture house in Bedford Street.

Mrs Cameron, nee Hughes, was born in Regent Street and married her husband at St Paul's church in Leamington on January 1 1948. She said: "I wanted to get married on my birthday in October but it was rations and we didn't have enough coupons so we couldn't and we decided to do it on the first day of the year instead.

"I had to wear a suit as we hadn't got enough coupons for a wedding dress but it was a happy day."

Remembering her wedding, Mrs Cameron, who had a twin sister, added: "I remember it being a really happy day and I had a pair of nylon stockings on which laddered from head to toe.

"The vicar had just come up from Wales and we were the first couple he had married there so they gave us the bells for free."

She added: "There was an old lady who invited us to spend our first night in her house."

After their marriage the couple returned to Mr Cameron's home in Sunderland before coming back to Leamington with their young son John. Mrs Cameron began doing private housekeeping for friends while her husband joined British Telecom as a phone-line fitter, a job he had for 30 years.

Describing the highlight of their marriage, Mr Cameron, 84, said: "The best things are our son, our two grandchildren and great-grandchild and getting on together.

"These days I think after about seven years people have arguments and it all builds up. They need to stop and count to 20 and think about what they are saying and think 'this can really cause trouble'."

Mrs Cameron, 82, added: "It has been a fun time and the years have just gone by. We have both worked and trusted each other and we have a very close family."

After holding a party for their golden wedding anniversary in 1998 the couple, who have lived in their home in Murcott Road West for 19 years, decided to celebrate with a quiet family meal. They have asked for donations to Myton Hospice instead of anniversary gifts in memory of their daughter-in-law who died of breast cancer.