Family members threw a party for Muriel, 79 and Les McCarthy, 91, at their home on New Market Lane on Sunday to mark 60 years of marriage.

The couple met when Mrs McCarthy was 17 and used to visit Mr McCarthy’s parents’ house on her rounds to pick up orders for the week’s rations from the Co-op store on Wheldon Lane.

They married at Pontefract Register Office on August 4 1948 and went on to have four children.

They also have five grandchildren and are expecting their first great-grandchild in October.

Mr McCarthy worked at Cattan’s Steel Foundry in Leeds before working as a miner at Allerton Bywater and Wheldale collieries.

Mrs McCarthy was a factory worker at Philidas Engineering and the former Rowntree Mackintosh.

Their daughter Gillian Elbeck said: “They have had a long and happy marriage. They have always pulled together and support each other and I think that’s why they have lasted so long.

“They had a fantastic day on their anniversary. We had a nice family get-together.”