A special lockdown diamond wedding celebration was arranged by staff at a Seaton care home for a resident and her husband.

Margaret Stock was reunited with her husband, Ernest, for their 60th wedding anniversary after he took a lateral flow Covid test and put on personal protective equipment.

Margaret has been a resident of The Seaton Nursing Home for the past three years and Ernest lives nearby. The couple, who are both in their 80s, have two children and two grandchildren who were unable to be with them because of national lockdown and visiting restrictions.

Margaret and Ernest both had their second vaccinations in the afternoon of their diamond wedding anniversary.

Staff organised a small party with a special cake and their son sent family pictures to the home to display for their celebration. The couple also received a telegram from the Queen.

Kelly Boweren, administration manager at The Seaton, said: “Ernest was a regular visitor before the pandemic. We have done our best to keep them together, while working within the law. It was so lovely that they got to be physically close with no screen, on their big day.”

The Seaton Nursing Home is rated ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission. It is based in an elegant Georgian building with its own private gardens and is situated less than a quarter of a mile from the town centre and seafront.

The home provides general nursing and residential care, including respite and rehabilitation.