THEY first met at a dance at the Morris Motors club in 1951 and have been dancing together ever since.

Lionel ‘Dodger’ Warne, 80, and his wife Jean, 81, celebrate 60 years of marriage today.

The pair, who now live in Wootton, near Abingdon, married at St Clement’s Church, Oxford, on the bride’s 21st birthday – 11 months after they met at the Crescent Road dance.

They have four children – Gillian, 53, Carole, 51, Desmond, 50, and Christopher, 49 – and 10 grandchildren.

Mr Warne said: “We are both really proud. We have four lovely children and 10 grandchildren. We are really proud of them, too.

“They have been a happy 60 years. It was hard at first with money but it worked out.”

He added: “We are both quite fit and we still go dancing at places like the Cowley Workers Club in Between Towns Road.”

Jean Warne (nee Kirby), 81, said: “We have never gone to bed on an argument. And I don’t think we have had an argument since our children have grown up.”

Mrs Warne worked on Austin A40s at Pressed Steel in the trim shop, and Mr Warne, a bricklayer, founded Thameside Construction and ran the firm for about 30 years.

The pair have lived in Oxfordshire all their lives.

After they wed, they lived in Littlemore, Marston, Cowley, Iffley Road, before moving to Boars Hill.

They settled in Sandleigh Road, Wootton, about five years ago.

The couple will celebrate with a Mediterranean cruise later this year.