A COUPLE who met because of a bet are celebrating 60 years of marriage.

John Hale, 85, and wife Brenda, 79, plan to spend a week reminiscing on the seafront at Eastbourne - but it could have all been so different if not for a cheeky gamble.

Mrs Hale recalls: "I was the eldest of five sisters and I had a lovely maiden name of Brenda Batty.

"Older people in Grays may remember the big furniture store where I worked - it was called Horncastle, on the High Street, next to the church.

"John was with a friend looking in the window at some records - he was 22 at the time and in the Army.

"My boss bet me half a crown I couldn't entice the lads into the shop and he was right - I didn't. But I told Mr Horncastle, Don't worry, he'll be back' - and I was right!"

They were married at the Church of England church on Victoria Avenue, Grays.

Mr Hale worked for 35 years at the Thames Case paper mill in Purfleet as a laboratory assistant.

The couple, who now live in Alf Loewen Court, Chadwell St Mary, have a son, Geoffrey, 58, who lives in the American state of Texas, as well as two grandsons David, 28 and John, 26, and a granddaughter, Ruth, 23.

Geoffrey and his wife paid a special visit from Texas as part of the couple's anniversary celebrations.

As a gambling lady, Mrs Hale tipped marriages to last between couples who "don't go to bed on an argument".