A woman who broke up with her boyfriend after he stood her up on a date, only to give him a second chance, is celebrating her 60th wedding anniversary with her childhood sweetheart.

June Blundell says taking Roy back after he left her waiting outside the Granada Cinema in Hoe Street, Walthamstow, when they were teenagers, has been the best decision of her life.

The couple, who met while studying at William McGuffie School in Walthamstow, went on to marry and have two sons, settling in Blue House Road, Chingford.

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“He stood me up,” remembers the 80-year-old.

“I was waiting outside and he never turned up. I was angry and after that I didn’t see him for about a year.

“Then one day I bumped into him at the cinema with his friends and he asked me out again.

“He said to me ‘this is only going to end one way’ and we ended up getting married.

“He was tall and skinny and I was short and fat so it sort of worked out.”

Although Mr Blundell, 82, first met his wife in school when he was 15 and she was 13, it took him five years to pluck up the courage ask her out on a date.

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While drinking with friends one evening in the Rose & Crown pub in Hoe Street, Walthamstow, June caught his attention and he offered to walk her home.

But when the relationship ended after he failed to show up for their cinema date, Mr Blundell was single for 12 months before the chance meeting with his wife led to them rekindling.

“There was no one else for me,” he said. “She had such a lovely face and always looked very attractive.

“She says she was fat but she wasn’t; she was just chubby and I liked that very much.”

Two years after their first date, the couple tied the knot in front of family and friends in Emmanuel Church in Vincent Road, Leyton.

While Mrs Blundell stayed home to look after their sons Mark and Darren, Mr Blundell worked as an engineer and took on a second job in a factory to make ends meet.

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Roy and June's big day was covered by The Guardian.

The pensioner said marrying her husband has “worked out brilliantly” because he has been her carer since she was diagnosed with Leukemia in 1998.

And what words of advice does she have for other ladies who have been let down by men?

“I would say give them another chance and see how it works out.

“If it worked the first time then it may work again.

“When I took him back, my friends said why are you giving him another chance?

“We’ve had challenges but we’ve worked our way through them.”

The couple who have five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary with a party in Chingford.