It’s a love story that has spanned six decades and united two families twice over.

Conington couple Josie and Ernie Brand celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary with diamonds – he gave her a diamond ring to mark the special day on February 27.

They first met when Mrs Brand, 81, was 16 and she was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her sister Betty to Mr Brand’s brother Ted.

Fate intervened when Mrs Brand moved to Conington to live with her sister a few years later. Living across the road with his parents was Mr Brand, now 82, who soon developed a soft spot for her.

She said: “We got together and it just went from there.”

After a proposal in 1953, they married at St Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton, in 1954.

The couple lived with Mrs Brand’s sister before moving across the road to the house where Mr Brand was born.

While Mrs Brand worked as a printing assistant, Mr Brand worked on a farm and in a dairy. They have three children and five grandchildren.

Mrs Brand said: “The secret of a happy marriage is to work hard and look after your children.” Mr Brand added: “A happy marriage is to always share things together, always go out together and if you can’t afford things you don’t have it. We just live for one another.”