THEY must be one of the longest married couples in the UK and Margaret and Thomas Gray are celebrating their platinum wedding tomorrow.

The two met at a dance in the 1940s and were married shortly after, obtaining a special licence because Thomas was off to Gibraltar in the army.

Daughter Grace Moran, 68, said her parents met at a dance in what is now Dobbies Loan and were married when her mum was just 17. Her dad was 19.

She said the couple had had a happy marriage although "dad would say he could have done two murders and been out by now!," she joked.

Thomas, 89, and Margaret, 87, still live in their home in Potterhill Road they moved to several years ago.

Margaret has dementia, her daughter said, but manages to cope quite well.

"They've moved around Glasgow," she said. "They stayed in Anderston, where the MOD building is, then moved to Castlemilk and out to Pollok."

Her father worked for Rolls Royce and her mum was a machinist who went on to make beds for railway sleepers.

The couple have two children - Grace and Sheila, 67 - plus five grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

They celebrated with a family meal at the Old Plane Tree in Darnley on Sunday.

Grace said some of the family had moved to Australia and would not be able to attend but around 12 relatives were helping them mark the 70th anniversary.

WHEN the couple married in 1946, Prime Minister Clement Attlee promised independence to India, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering - later renamed Sony - was founded with about 20 employees and Italians voted to turn from a monarchy to a republic.

The Philippines also got full independence from the west for the first time in 380 years, bikinis went on sale in Paris and the world's first theme park opened in Indiana, pre-dating Disneyland by nine years.