When Norman and Joan Kirkbright tied the knot they had just a week together before they were separated for five years by war.

But Mrs Kirkbright never doubted that her husband would return safely.

Now the couple are celebrating 70 years of marriage.

Now aged 94 and 88, the Yeadon couple are celebrating at St John’s Church in Yeadon where they met and were married. They used to sing in the choir. Mrs Kirkbright said they had just a week together before her husband went to Egypt with the Medical Corps.

After the war Mr Kirkbright became a teacher, working at Littlemoor School and then Benton Park, while Mrs Kirkbright stayed at home to bring up their son and daughter. The couple now also have three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

They plan to mark their platinum anniversary quietly and are inviting friends to drop in for tea and cake.

After 70 years together Mrs Kirkbright joked: “They all say my husband deserves a medal.”

And she passed on advice which she received from her own mother.

“She always said what you can’t change with them in the first two years just accept,” she said.