Loyalty and always working together are the key ingredients to a long marriage – just ask Ron and Phyllis Wills.

The couple have barely spent a day apart since meeting and are now celebrating their platinum wedding anniversary after 70 years together.

The pair, of Ham Lane, Hempstead, have known each other all their lives but first began dating in 1953 when Ron spotted Phyllis heading on her bike to pay her coal bill, which Ron’s father had delivered.

Ron, 92, said to Phyllis: “It’s no good you going down there, give me the money and I’ll pay it when I go home.”

After Phyllis accepted the offer, Ron asked her for a date the next day and from that day onwards the pair have been inseparable.

“That was it – we’ve been together every day since,” Ron added.

The pair, who both grew up in Luton village between Chatham and Hempstead, married at Christ Church, Luton, when Phyllis was 17 and Ron was 22.

The couple emphasised how loyalty had played a big part in the success of their marriage.

The retired builder recounted the time, aged 36, when he was creating a wardrobe for one female customer and “she stood there stark naked”.

Ron said: “I told her ‘sorry I’m not interested’, and I stood around the corner while she got dressed.

“I’ve never dreamt of being untrue and she’s been the same – we’ve always been the same.”

The couple went on to have four children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, with one more on the way.

The pair, who have lived in the countryside all their lives, say they have never had a serious row.

Mother-of-four Phyllis, 87, said: “We’ve had a few hot words now and again, when you are tired or you are not well, but it doesn’t mean a thing.

“We might get a bit ratty with one another but the next minute we will say ‘I’ve got a cuppa, do you want one?”

Ron played for Luton Boys’ football team, aged 14 until he joined the army in 1949 for two years and was a reserve for five.

During his time as a reserve, Ron went away once a year for a fortnight on special training but says it was the only time they have ever spent apart.

When asked whether they have ever got sick of each other after all these years, Ron said: “I wouldn’t part with her for the world!”

Both Ron and Phyllis have a love of the outdoors and have only left the country twice in their life because they enjoy the countryside.

Ron said: “The secret to our long marriage is we have always worked together, we have never had a serious row, and I’ve never smoked or drunk beer in my life.”

The couple will celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on March 27, with a big garden party in the summer.

When they married in 1954, the UK Prime Minister was Winston Churchill, a pint of beer cost 1s 10d (9p) and the average house cost £1,891.