A couple have defied the cynics who said their holiday romance would never last by celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.

The Comet: Hazel and John HynardHazel and John Hynard (Image: Archant)

Hazel and John Hynard tied the knot on March 5, 1955 after meeting six months earlier in Clacton-on-Sea while Hazel was on holiday.

John, 80, said: “I lived in Clacton and was down the town centre and she was on the pier on the bumper cars. I jumped into a car and bumped into her, then when she bumped into me I thought: ‘There might be something to this’.”

The pair were married at the chapel in Basils Road, Stevenage, moved to the town soon after and now live in Four Acres.

They had two children and now have three grandchildren.

The Comet: John and Hazel Hynard on their wedding dayJohn and Hazel Hynard on their wedding day (Image: Archant)

John worked as a builder and then for Sainsbury’s and Hazel still works part-time at the Lister Hospital sterilising surgical instruments.

Speaking about what has kept the couple together over the decades, Hazel said: “The only way to manage it is to trust each other. At the beginning of our relationship, John was so jealous that I thought I couldn’t marry him, I couldn’t understand because I was not jealous at all.”

John said: “Everyone said it wouldn’t last, but here we are 60 years later.

“And that’s not bad for a holiday romance.”