A TRIP to the Taj Mahal will mark 50 years of marriage for a globe-trotting West Malvern couple.

Jean and John Mobbs have been to Australia, America and France during their time together and will visit India's most famous landmark in August to celebrate their golden wedding, which was on Saturday, March 20.

They are also being treated to a 'second honeymoon' in Paris by their three sons - Richard, David and Nicholas - and jetted off on Wednesday for five days in the French capital.

The couple, now both 72, met in Reading as 14-year-olds when John used to visit Jean's brother to play cards.

It took three years before romance blossomed however, after a fateful trip to Maidenhead.

Jean, a former champion swimmer, was travelling to a swimming pool in the town, but after finding the pool closed, decided to cycle along the River Thames with a friend, where she bumped into John.

Jean said: "We walked along for ages and I missed the last bus home. I got into trouble for that and was told never to see that young man again."

But Jean was not deterred and the couple married in 1954 at St Bartholomew's Church, Reading.

They moved to Malvern in 1965 and later opened the Rockhouse guesthouse on West Malvern Road, which they ran for 25 years before retiring.

Jean said the secret of a happy marriage was 'give and take'.

Said explained: "We've learned that if something goes really wrong, it's better to sit down and talk it through rather than go to bed angry."