A SURPRISE party was on the cards for a couple

celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary.

Weeks of clandestine planning came to fruition as family and friends gathered to help Tommy and Kathleen Johnstone celebrate in style.

The couple, of Burley Hall Nursing Home, Cornmill Lane, Burley-in-Wharfedale, met when they both worked at Nelson Town Hall, in 1938.

They married two years later and spent a romantic honeymoon in the Lake District.

Tommy, 85, and Kathleen, 89, have one daughter, Judith, 54, and two grandchildren Philip, 26 and Keran, 22.

The couple were happy to share the secrets of their long and happy marriage.

Kathleen said: "We have always been devoted to each other.

Tommy added: "I just think she is lovely."

The party was organised by staff and residents, at the home, who presented the couple with a cake and

flowers.

Mary Bentley, manager of the care home, said: "Mr and Mrs Johnstone are a wonderful couple - they are a living example to all of us that

marriage is a lifelong

celebration."