MALVERN couple Jean and Dick Cooper will be be celebrating 50 years of happy marriage today (Friday).

The couple met on a blind date in Worcester arranged by work colleagues - but initially things did not go so smoothly.

"We were supposed to meet outside the old Gaumont in Foregate Street," said Mrs Cooper, "but Dick's car got a flat tyre.

"But it was rearranged, and we met, and we ended up getting married Holy Trinity Church in Malvern on March 16, 1968."

Mr Cooper, from Alfrick, was initially a farm worker, before going on to work at the Midlands Shires Farmers County Mills in Worcester.

He subsequently became a school caretaker, working at the Chase in Malvern before his retirement in 2000.

He was well known as a cross-country runner, winning the county championship, representing England at an international competition in Lille, taking part in the first London Marathon, and winning the Beacon Race twice and the Hereford marathon five time in a row. He si also a lifetime member of Malvern Rugby Club.

Mrs Cooper, from Malvern, trained as a legal secretary, and worked in that capacity at Russell and Co in Malvern for 20 years.

The couple have one daughter, Tracy, who lives near Southend, and is the head of press at the National Gallery in London, as well as running a PR company with her husband.

They will be celebrating the anniversary with family member and close friends today.