A NORTON couple are set to celebrate a lifetime of love with family and friends plus a message from the Queen.

Cynthia and Joe Jackson, from Hungerford Road, got a telegram from Her Majesty to mark the 70th anniversary of their wartime wedding on February 13.

The couple, who wed at St Thomas's Church, Stourbridge, will be celebrating their platinum anniversary at a party later this month with friends and family, including their son Ian, five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Joe, aged 90, was born in Kinver and spent his civilian working life at a large frozen food company where he retired as a director. He also saw action in the army during World War II and took part in the D-Day landings.

Office administrator Cynthia, from Stourbridge, now 89, met her husband-to-be when the pair attended Brook Street School in Stourbridge, where they were head boy and head girl of the school's Nelson house.

Joe said: "It's all about give and take in the marriage, we don't seem to have differences, we seem to laugh it off. We have such a good family who look after us and we look after them, we also have excellent neighbours."