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A husband and wife who insist they have only ever had one major argument in 50 years of marriage have been named Britain's happiest couple.

Grandparents Barry and Lesley Holmes, of Fleetwood, Lancashire, won the title in a contest run by a jewellery chain.

"I'm just happy, I love him," said Mrs Holmes, 72, while her husband, 71, added: "We are there for one another".

Mrs Holmes attributed their lasting bond to "trust, and giving Barry his own space".

The couple, who have two children and four grandchildren, recently celebrated their golden wedding.

Mr Holmes added: "We have only had one argument. We might have the odd disagreement but we never go to bed arguing. We just seem to blend together."

The couple told how they met in the 1960s at a gathering organised by Mr Holmes' cousin, when he was 15 and she was 16.

"I class myself as a toy boy," Mr Holmes said.

His wife recalled: "I was at one end of the room and he was at the other and he kept grinning at me.

"Every time he looked at me and grinned, my stomach just turned."

Fifty years later the story of their wedded bliss is to be shared nationwide as they feature on a poster campaign to promote the jewellery chain.

They have also won £1,000 worth of jewellery.

"We still can't believe we are going to be on billboards," Mr Holmes said.