AN Aston Fields couple have celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary more than 60 years after matchmaking pals paired them up for a blind date.

George and Dorothy Smith, of Corbett Close, enjoyed a party last Saturday at Aston Fields Working Men's Club, in Stoke Road, to mark the marriage milestone.

The pensioners were just teenagers when they met and now both in their eighties they have decades of memories to look back on.

They had a wartime wedding at All Saints' Church, off Birmingham Road, on August 1 1942 and honeymooned in Scotland.

When they met, George, of Northfield, was a foundry worker at RJ Hunt in Birmingham and Dorothy, of Bromsgrove, was a machinist at the Austin car factory at Longbridge.

In 1942, George joined the army and was stationed in England until the end of World War II.

He then worked as a grinder at the Garringtons plant for 31 years while Dorothy stayed at home to care for their three children.

They now have six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

The Smiths believe the secret to a happy marriage is "sharing everything".