A Worcester couple who met by chance near Worcestershire county cricket ground are celebrating reaching 60 years of marriage not out.

George and Olive Carter of Baveney Road, St John's, are marking their 60th year as a married couple today - but as they want to have the whole family around them, they are holding off any party until next year, when their two daughters, one son, three granddaughters and three great-grandaughters can be with them.

The couple married after six months' courtship in Northfield Church, Birmingham, after bumping into each other in New Road in 1946.

Mrs Carter lived in Birmingham as a young girl and used to cycle into Worcester almost every Sunday with her sister and a friend.

But on the day she met Mr Carter, she had been on her way to meet someone else for a date, so had taken the train.

However he didn't show up, and as she, her sister and the friend were walking along New Road, they met George, who was also with a friend, and he insisted on walking them back to the station.

Mrs Carter said: "He was determined I was the one for him. I just wanted to be a nurse and didn't even think about marriage. But my father wouldn't let me, so we married."

Within a year, the couple had their first daughter, Linda, who was then followed by Christine and their son Terence.

However, at the age of 40 and with the children grown up, Mrs Carter was able to realise her dream and started training as a nurse - at the same time as her daughters.

"We all trained at the same time. It took us three years. I qualified in October, my oldest girl the following February and my youngest daughter in October. We were told it had never been known for that to happen before."

Four of the family then worked at the now closed Powick Hospital, George as a switchboard operator and Olive as a sister.

"I had 20 great years as a nurse," added Mrs Carter.

The couple also enjoyed ballroom dancing, gaining their bronze and silver medals in the discipline.

Mrs Carter is a member of the Worcester Friendship Club and Mr Carter enjoys bowling.

Mr Carter said the secret to their long marriage was understanding.

"We have had our ups and downs but we have always got on well together. It's a matter of give and take," he said.