GOLDEN couple Frederick and June Marriott believe a guardian angel has watched over their 50-year marriage.

Shortly after falling in love as teenagers Mr Marriott, 72, was posted to Korea with the army while Mrs Marriott, 70, was taken ill with TB and had to spend two years in hospital.

The couple, of Clarendon Road, Trowbridge, wrote to each other every day through their separation.

Mrs Marriott said: "Both our lives were in danger but he stood by me the whole time I was in hospital. "After all we've been through we've had a fantastic life together. I was so happy when we met, we just clicked. He was my first love."

The couple, who both grew up in London, first met in a fairground. Mr Marriott said: "I'd just joined the army and had come home on my first leave. "I went to a fair with my brother and saw two girls standing by the dodgems. I asked them if they'd like to have a ride on them."

The couple got talking and eventually married on April 21, 1956. They moved to Swindon before relocating to Nottingham and then to Trowbridge. They have four children; Charles, 49, Margaret, 48, Edward, 46 and Carol, 43, and eight grandchildren.

The couple are having a party tomorrow night at the Civic Hall, Trowbridge, where they are expecting 160 guests.

Donations will go to Cancer Research and the dogs and cats home. They said the secret to a happy marriage was to give and take, not to get nasty with one another and to take life as it comes.