A retired regional journalist honoured for services to his city has hit the headlines again as he toasts 60 years of wedded bliss.

Former Yorkshire Post chief reporter John Scott, aged 85, met his wife Meriel, now 81, on a blind date after he left the army

Having started out as a junior reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Press, he moved through the ranks and became chief reporter for the Yorkshire Post.

The landmark anniversary came just days after John was awarded the British Empire Medal for his decades of service to York as a journalist, and later as a parish councillor for Strensall.

Father-of-one and grandfather-of-two John said they spent their honeymoon in London – a rather unfortunate choice, in retrospect, as the city was filled with mourners for Queen Mary, who had just died.

“Most of the shops were shut, but the marriage happily survived a gloomy start,” he said.

Meriel added: “We have just been happy – we have perhaps been very lucky in our marriage.

“We get on together and have never been short of anything to talk about.”