A Keighley couple who first met in a small town in southern Italy in 1950 will celebrate 60 years of marriage tomorrow.

Giuseppe and Domenica Consoli lived in Pomarico, in Matera province. They were married there in 1951.

Giuseppe, who is now 84, moved to England in 1958 and Domenica, now 77, followed two years later.

They first lived near Long Preston, where Giuseppe worked seven days a week tending to livestock on a farm. They moved to South Street, Keighley, in 1962, and have lived locally ever since. They now live in Queen’s Road and have two sons and a daughter.

Domenica worked as a twister and was first employed at Haggas’ Mill, then at Thomas Wilson’s.

Her husband became a sandblaster at Trico, in Lawkholme Lane, then worked as an engineer at Wask Engineering. He retired in 1991.

He said: “I enjoyed every minute of my working life.

“I started when I was eight years old, looking after horses, and kept working till I was 65.”

Domenica said: “We did work very hard. I used to get five pounds a week for working from 7.30 in the morning till 5.30 in the evening.”

Giuseppe added that younger people didn’t always appreciate how much cleaner today’s post-industrial Keighley had become.

“I love this country and I love the people. I don’t have a single enemy here,” he said.