A KISS goodnight is the secret to a happy and successful marriage according to a couple who are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary.

George and Rose Prescott, who live on Masefield Avenue in Leigh, married in 1955 when they were 18 and 19 years old at Wigan Road Methodist Church.

George served in the Royal Artillery from 1955-1958 after which he worked in the pits and then as a wagon driver . Rose was a seamstress before going into home care.

Despite spending 60 happy years together George recalls how it could have been a different story as Rose was actually dating George's best friend when he first met her.

George, aged 78, said: "She was going out with my friend but every day she had to walk past my house to get to his and I would watch her out of the window when she walked past and every time I saw her I just knew I wanted to be with her.

"She went out with him for about six months until one day he told me he had left her and didn't want to be with her.

"I asked him where she was and he said at a dance in Wigan, so I ran from Ince to Wigan and asked her for a dance.

"I fell in love with her straight away."

George and Rose have three children, George, Mark and Sylvia and six grandchildren.

Rose, aged 79, said she knew George was the one after their first dance.

"I remember it as though it was yesterday. I said to my friend after our dance that I loved him and I have loved him ever since."

Now 60 years on George tells how the recipe for a happy marriage is all in a kiss goodnight.

George said: "You should never fall out, you should fight for what you have got.

"And always kiss your wife goodnight. A kiss goodnight can change everything."