A couple from Westbury who courted for two years before they married have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with their family.

William and Mary Gale made the front page of the Wiltshire Times when they married on September 5 1959, as in those days that's where family announcements were placed.

The happy couple celebrated their Diamond anniversary at the Chalford Hotel in Westbury with their four children, Andrew, Stephen, Rachel and Jonathan, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

When they met in 1957, William was a police cadet and Mary was working in a cloth factory in Westbury.

Mary recalled: "Bill's cousin Michael Stallard was 21 and had just had a new car for his birthday.

"He asked a girl I was working with if she would like to go for a drive and I went with her as a chaperone. Bill was in the car with Michael and that's how we met.

"We all went to Warminster to pick up a dog. I thought he was very handsome in his police cadet's uniform.

"After that, he asked me for my telephone number and hung around outside the factory to wait for me.

"It wasn't love at first sight, it just grew. We courted for about two years before we got married."

The couple's first home was a caravan in Bill's parent's garden, while they waited for a council house to become available.

Eventually, they moved to Downsview Road in Westbury, then to Alfred Street, and then to Thornbury Road, where they have lived for the past 15 years or more.

Mr Gale, 79, was made redundant from his job in the Blue Circle Cement accounts office when he was 58. Mary, 80, was a housewife for much of their marriage.

The couple say they are "best friends" and share many interests and hobbies, including indoor bowls with the Blue Circle Bowls Club and short mat bowls at Codford.

For their 50th wedding anniversary they went on a trip to New Zealand, but this time have celebrated quietly at home with their family.