A MALVERN couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary on Christmas Eve with a meal in the hotel they dined in exactly 60 years earlier.

Lionel and Rita Tysoe turned back the clock to 1942 with the help of staff at the town's Foley Arms Hotel.

Manager Nigel Thomas said: "The restaurant is normally closed for Christmas and we don't allow non-residents in.

"Obviously this is a special case. It's quite a nice thing for them to do."

Mr and Mrs Tysoe, both in their 80s, followed up their meal with a walk on the Malvern Hills. They were back on the hills again on Christmas Day, when they walked up to Worcestershire Beacon, as they have done annually for the past 20 years.

Mr and Mrs Tysoe, who have a son and three grandsons, married in Whittington Church, Worcester, in 1942. They spent part of their honeymoon in Malvern, after meeting in London during the Second World War.

Born in London, Mrs Tysoe, 83, was part of the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate and was posted to the London Aircraft Base, now part of Heathrow Airport.

Mr Tysoe, 85, was born in Worcester and was working at General Aircraft at the same base.

"We used to cycle all over the aerodrome," said Mrs Tysoe, describing how the pair met. "I got lost one day and went into a shed and there was a young man sitting on a stool gazing at a Spitfire. He said he was trying to work out how to fold up the wings!"

As well as working on the conversion of the Spitfire to its naval alter ego, the Seafire, Mr Tysoe has worked in agricultural engineering and fire engine construction.

After living in Kenya for ten years, the couple returned to the UK and retired to Malvern in the early 80s. They now live in Abbey Road.

"I walk into the town most days and look up at the hills and think 'how many people can walk through a park and look at a view like that?'" said Mrs Tysoe.