A WEYMOUTH couple have celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary surrounded by family.

Roy Hunt, 94, and Mary Hunt, 92, met during the Second World War in 1940 and married two years later. Mrs Hunt said: “Roy proposed to me on the old Stone Pier but because there were blackouts there was only one little pilot light. It was very dark and we could barely see, so I didn’t really know what I was taking on.”

They married on May 23, 1942, in All Saints Church, Wyke Regis and borrowed rationing coupons from both sides of the family to get enough fabric for the bridesmaid’s dresses.

Mrs Hunt said: “In those days it was even a struggle getting the foil to help make the bridesmaids’ garlands. Given the time, it was all an achievement really.”

“It poured with rain on our wedding day, and I was worried about how many people would be outside the church. It was quite a small reception because food was still rationed, so we held it in the pub opposite my home,” she added.

Mr Hunt said: “As I was a policeman I only got 48 hours leave to marry Mary and have our honeymoon and I daren’t leave town for that because we were in the middle of the war. So we had our honeymoon at Mary’s cousin’s bungalow on Camp Road.

“There were anti-aircraft guns on the other side of the hedge over the road and on our wedding night the air raid sirens went, so we had to go under the wooden kitchen table and take shelter.”

For their platinum wedding anniversary in 2012 the couple staged their own imitation Ascot Races event.

The couple have two children, eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

When asked what the secret to a long marriage was, Mr Hunt said: “It’s such an old cliché when people say it’s all about give and take. When you live together you use your common sense and you make sure you are there for friends and family if they need help.”

Mrs and Mrs Hunt celebrated their 72nd anniversary with a family lunch at a Dorchester pub, and explained the rest of the day would be a ‘surprise’ for them.