A WEYMOUTH couple celebrated 60 years together with a party and a trip up the Weymouth Sea Life Tower.

Roy and Barbara Gainey celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary with a party at their daughter Elizabeth Goodsell’s house in Rodwell.

Friends and family joined in the party including son Martin, son-in-law Antony and granddaughter Elise.

Mr and Mrs Gainey, who live in Lanehouse, married at the now-demolished Gloucester Street Congregational Church.

Alderman Mr Gainey spent most of his working life with what were then Post Office telephones, selling extensively across Dorset. He was a borough councillor for almost 50 years from 1952, elected at a by-election three weeks before Elizabeth became queen.

This remarkable achievement was marked by being awarded the Freemanship of the Borough, on his retirement from the Borough Council in March 2001.

Mr Gainey also served for some years as a Dorset County Councillor. Mrs Gainey qualified and worked as a teacher at various local schools.

The couple have been Mayor and Mayoress twice, once of the original borough of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in 1972 and again of the new borough of Weymouth and Portland in 1987.

Family friend Michel Hooper-Immins said: “Roy and Barbara greatly enjoyed their diamond wedding celebration among their old friends and with our warm good wishes ringing in their ears.

“Most of the guests were local people who had never been up the Sea Life Tower, so it was a grand experience for us all to see the panoramic views from the top.”