A COUPLE whose winter wedding was almost derailed by a train crash, have celebrated their 60th anniversary.

Colin Morgan travelled from Durham to Portsmouth via London with 13 relatives on Christmas Eve in 1955 ahead of his wedding to Maureen, but an error with the taxis meant the group did not catch their connection.

The error meant Colin and his family were not on the train which crashed, killing some and injuring others, and the couple - from Hamilton Drive, Holgate - were married in St Joseph's Church, Portsmouth, on Boxing Day.

They celebrated their 50th anniversary in The Press in 2005, and said the years in between had flown by.

Maureen, now 79, said: "It doesn't feel like 10 years since the last milestone, it's gone really quickly. Colin has had three new knees in that time.

"We have become great-great-grandparents too. We've got 15 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandchild who will be three years old in February. I don't feel any different to how I did when I got married. I sometimes think who's that when I look in the mirror, but we've done very well, really."

The couple received a card from The Queen to mark their anniversary, wishing them congratulations "on such a splendid special occasion".

Maureen said: "It means a lot to us, I will treasure this. We both will."