DIAMOND couple Ann and Alan Butterworth received a royal greeting as they celebrated a European link-up that has lasted 60 years.

The Bowdon couple took delivery of a message of congratulations from the Queen on their diamond anniversary.

They met when Ann came to Lancashire from her native Austria to learn English.

Romance blossomed between Ann and electrician Alan, who lived in Bacup at the time, and they tied the knot on on April 30, 1955.

They lived in Bacup for six years and had two daughters, Diana and Margaret. They moved to Sale in 1961 after Alan took a new job, and four years later to Timperley.

In 1969, Alan started his own electrical and contracting business, which went from strength to strength. All the family worked in the business until Alan wound it down and retired in 1999.

The couple, who are in their 80s, now live in Bowdon and have six grown-up grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

In retirement, they divide their time between their Bowdon home and a flat in Austria.

Daughter Diana said: "They have always stood together in everything they do and have always 'sung from the same hymn sheet'.

"They are as devoted to each other now as they ever were and they have always had a love and understanding between them which I know is unbreakable."