A Falmouth couple who met over 50 years ago in a bank in Helston celebrated their golden wedding anniversary today.

Alan and Betty Davies, of Park Rise, first met when Betty, who was working for parents collecting eggs from local farms at Manhay, used to visit the National Provincial bank where Alan worked.

Betty, 71, was working for her parents, Hedley and Mary Williams, who ran a business at Manhay collecting eggs from local farms and selling them and butter to local businesses.

Alan, who worked at the bank which is now known as NatWest, would often see Betty coming into the bank but it took him a while to pluck up the courage to talk to her.

Alan, 83, said: "My boss at the time lost his patience with me and kept telling me that I had to talk to her. So when she came in he would disappear out the back forcing me to talk to her."

Once he had found the courage to talk to his future wife they started courting in 1955 and were married two years later in 1957 at Wendron Church.

Brought up in Bristol, Alan moved to Cornwall with his job at the bank and after they married his job forced them to move again to Holsworthy in Devon for the first three years of their married life.

The couple then returned to Cornwall and settled in Falmouth where Alan ran the local branch of NatWest until he retired in 1983.

They have two children, Colin who lives and Falmouth and Mary who lives in Peterborough. They also have two grandchildren James and Philippa.

When asked the secret to their marriage, Alan said: "It is a question of give and take. I give and the wife takes. But I always have the last words which are usually yes Betty'."

When the couple were courting back in the 1950's they often used to visit the Grand Cinema in Falmouth and Alan recalled seeing a film called Three Coins and a Fountain and to his surprise the film was on television last week. He said: "It was a great coincidence, what with our anniversary coming up and it brought back some old memories."