A couple celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary has revealed the secrets to a happy marriage.

Doreen and Douglas Newton, from Wimbledon Park, married in St Luke's Church, Wimbledon, in 1954, when they were 25  years old.

They met when Mrs Newton, a former hairdresser, was invited to Mr Newton's house by his mother to fix her hair.

Mr Newton had just come back from the army and was working for the Ministry of Transport.

Now retired, he worked as a TSB bank manager in the Wandsworth and then Putney branches.

Mrs Newton said: "We have just grown together. We have good times and bad times which everyone has sometimes.

"I think you have to work at it. These days most people want their independence but you have to pull together.

"You don't have an argument and leave the house without talking about it."

The couple, now 85, received a telegram from the Queen congratulating them on their 60-year marriage.

They commemorated a lifetime together with a celebration at the Antoinette Hotel, Wimbledon, on Saturday, April 5.

Relatives and the original bridesmaids came to the hotel to enjoy a meal and watch them cut a three tier cake, made by their only child, Gail Broziet.

Mrs Newton said: "It went off lovely. I couldn't fault the hotel. My husband made a speech and thanked everybody for coming and thanked me for being a wonderful wife for sixty years."