A chance meeting at a funfair in the late 1940s sparked a romance that has lasted more than 60 years for Exmouth couple Jim and Jean Copeland.

Mr and Mrs Copeland, of Little Bicton Place, recently celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary, marking 60 years of marriage.

Jean said Jim presents her with red roses every August 11 – the same flowers she carried in her bouquet - to celebrate their special day in 1951, when they wed at St Andrew’s Church, in Shepherds Bush

Jean said: “It was most peculiar. My dad and I went in a taxi. It wasn’t an ordinary church, it was Scottish church. They had to have a registrar and he hadn’t turned up. There was Jim wondering what was going on because we had to go around the block three times.”

Jim said: “Rationing was on and everyone in the family clubbed together and bought bits of this and bits of that.”

The couple met when Jean was 16 and Jim was 17 while the pair was out with friends at a funfair.

After courting for four years, they wed at the end of the war.

They honeymooned for a week at Point Clear in Eastbourne before returning to work. Jim was a plumber while Jean worked for the 600 Company, which dealt in scrap.

Jim, 81, said: “I thought she was great. She was good looking and she looked fun.

Jean, 80, said: “He just said ‘can I walk you home’. I said ‘yes’ and then we just saw each other everyday.”

The couple, who have three children, three grandchildren and one great-granddaughter, celebrated their anniversary with family and friends at the Globe Inn, in Exmouth.