A couple who met on a blind date on Magdalen Bridge, Oxford, in 1934, celebrated 70 years of marriage with a meal out in Bladon and a card from the Queen.

Basil and Joan Clinkard (née Gibbs), both 91, also enjoyed a tea party attended by four generations of family members.

Son-in-law Paul Richardson, from Abingdon, paid tribute to the couple's "liveliness and sense of fun".

He said: "Platinum wedding anniversaries must be pretty rare events because they seem to be entirely ignored by manufacturers of greetings cards."

Mr and Mrs Clinkard, who have lived in Kennington since 1946, have two daughters, Jennifer Drury, 67, and Elizabeth Richardson, 65, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren and, amazingly, they all live within three-and-a-half miles.

Mr Clinkard said: "We are very fortunate because we could do with a hand occasionally. It's a great blessing — although it can be a bit of a nuisance when we're watching snooker on TV."

Mr Clinkard explained how the couple met 74 years ago, aged 17.

He said: "I had a very good friend, a cousin of mine, and there came a time when he met a young lady in a bookshop.

"He wanted to get me off his back and told me there was a very charming young lady who worked with his girlfriend — he arranged for all four of us to meet on Magdalen Bridge.

"It was love at first sight, absolutely, but I was flabbergasted as we both went to Cowley Road Infants School, although we were so young then I hadn't noticed her in particular."

Mr Clinkard's cousin, Monty Clinkard, later married his date from the same day 74 years ago.

He said: "Monty and Joy live near Henley and we went to visit them recently — he's 94 now."

Mr and Mrs Clinkard married on October 8, 1938 and honeymooned in Babbacombe, Devon.

Mr Clinkard, a former accountant for Oxford University, said: "We had beautiful weather and went rowing on the sea. I couldn't row, but it was so calm I thought it was worth a go."

He said the couple were enormously grateful for their many years together.

He added: "It's wonderful. We have been looked after all these years — we are very thankful just to be alive.

"We both have the same faith. We don't smoke and don't drink a lot. We eat sensibly and have a nap in the afternoon — that's important these days."