Two Wallingford couples have celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary, and both received bouquets of flowers and congratulations from mayor Betty Atkins.

She said: "It's unusual for a couple to get to 65 years. You can't even buy a greetings card for a 65th wedding anniversary. And to have two in the town celebrating it on the same day is really wonderful."

The couples are Reginald and Joan Newton, from Croft Road, and Charles and Joan Aves, from Brookmead Drive.

They were both married on September 19, 1942.

The Newtons were married in Berkhamsted. Mr Newton, 87, was from Oxford and Mrs Newton, 85, from Wiggington, near Tring, and met when Mr Newton was stationed at Wiggington with the Royal Artillery.

They lived in Headington, in Oxford, before moving to Wallingford in 1984.

Mr Newton worked on the railways before finishing his career as a district council transport manager, while Mrs Newton worked in catering for Nielsen's, in Oxford.

They had a celebration party involving 26 members of their immediate family.

Mrs Newton said: "It was wonderful having everyone together. We had a lovely time."

Mrs Aves, 86, had a surprise when Wallingford town hall was open recently. A neighbour spotted a picture of the couple on their wedding day taken on the town hall steps and Mrs Aves went to see it.

She said: "It was a real surprise - I didn't know about it beforehand."

The couple, both from Wallingford, were married in St Mary's and had their reception in the town hall.

They met at the Saturday evening dances in the former Embassy building in Castle Street.

Mr Aves, 91, was a teacher at Ewelme and Cholsey before joining the RAF where he intercepted and interpreted messages for the secret codebreaking unit at Bletchley Park.

He said: "We were sworn to secrecy about our work and couldn't talk about it for the next 40 years."

He finished his working career with Southern Electricity.