The secret to a happy marriage? A blazing row every day say pensioners married for 70 years

Feisty pensioners Florence and Harry Lucas have revealed the secret to their 70-year marriage – a blazing row every day.

The couple have notched up around 25,550 arguments – one for each day since they tied the knot in October 1942 – but claim the daily squabbles keep their relationship strong.

Florence, known as Floss, 91, yesterday revealed she had “lost count of the plates and dishes” she had hurled at hubby Harry, 93, over the years.

She said: “We love each other of course but we’re fighting most of the time – at least one a day for the last 70 years we’ve been married.

“Our squabbles are never over anything important, usually because we just wind each other up.

“The thing about Harry is he winds me up and won’t leave me alone – I’ve lost count of the plates and dishes I’ve thrown at him over the years.”

Despite their fiery relationship, the devoted pair also say they always make up before going to sleep and make sure they kiss each other at least once every day.

Floss added: “If any couple tells you they never argue, they’re lying. Arguing is healthy because it means you are talking about things.

“Having said that, I do love him [Harry] to bits.

“It was love at first sight when I first met him and we have argued, laughed and loved for 70 years – I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“All our fights have only been over little petty things, it’s never been about either of us running off with other people.

“He was never one for running off down the pub, he’s stuck to me all the time.

“That’s one of the things we’ve fought about, he’s always there, especially these days, he clings to me.

“But my biggest hate is that he is constantly taking his glasses off and cleaning them. He must have the cleanest glasses in the world.

“It’s every couple of minutes they’re off his face and he’s wiping them on his hanky. I wish he’d stop that, it’s so annoying.”

The couple, who have two children Keith, 65, and Susan, 54, also have five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, first met when they were teenagers during World War Two.

The fell for each other after working side-by-side at Perry Cycles in Birmingham but within months Harry was called to fight in the war on the south coast with the Royal Artillery searchlight team.

The pair got married while Harry was home on leave and they moved into a house in Balsall Heath, Birmingham.

After the war Harry got a job as a quality inspector in a plastics factory while Floss worked for a firm making torpedoes.

Floss said: “We used to meet every day on our lunch breaks. Harry would always, without fail being me an apple and orange.

“If you’d said to me back then ‘you’ll live to be 90 and be married for 70 years’ I’d have laughed and said ‘you’ve got to be joking.’

“I never thought I’d stay married this long because we’ve had lots and lots of arguments.”

Typically, Harry, disagrees with his wife, and said: “I knew we’d stay married for 70 years, no question.

“We’ve been in Birmingham all our lives, I used to work in factories and that’s where we met.

“I was a bit spoiled back then because I grew up with three sisters and my mother fussing over me, but Flo put me right.”