Mr Pindar, 80, married Margery at the town’s Queen Street Methodist Central Hall in 1953 – the very place where they had first met the previous summer.

Today, they are celebrating their emerald wedding anniversary after 55 happy years of marriage.

Mr Pindar said: “We were introduced to each other by a mutual friend and began courting very quickly. We met in the summer and married the next May.”

Mrs Pindar, who is originally from Hull, moved to Scarborough when she was 18 and was working as a teacher at Friarage School at the time.

She said: “As soon as we got together I think we just assumed it would lead to marriage.”

The day was not without its hitches. It was arranged for Mr Pindar to have travelled to the venue by horse drawn carriage with his childhood friend and best man, barrister Gilbert Gray QC.

But he said: “It was a very old horse and could only go downhill, so we ended up walking some of the way.”

Things also did not run smoothly for Mrs Pindar, who was delayed because a lorry was blocking the road. She said: “I got out of the car and walked the rest of the way.”

Mercifully it was plain sailing from then on and the couple enjoyed a week’s honeymoon in Chipping Campden in The Cotswolds.

“There was a heatwave so we couldn’t complain,” said Mrs Pindar.

Mr Pindar took over the Pindar empire from his father George in 1954 and was succeeded as chairman by son Andrew in 1997.

The multi-million pound company now employs 2,500 people and carries out part of its business in America.

Mr Pindar is a former chairman of Scarborough Building Society and Scarborough Health Trust and was awarded an OBE in the 1980s.

Mr and Mrs Pindar also have a daughter, Margaret, who sits as a governor at George Pindar Community Sports College – which was named after Mr Pindar’s father – and four grandchildren.

The couple have a deep-rooted love of Scarborough and only once contemplated living elsewhere.

Mr Pindar, who fronted the Scarborough Town Team group for five years, said: “When Scarborough was at its gloomiest it was really upsetting and we thought about moving. But then renaissance started and we both decided we would get involved in that.

“We thought there was more hope and now we are quite excited about Scarborough’s future.”

So what is the secret of their happiness? Mr Pindar said: “The nice thing about being married for 55 years is that we have had enough time to spend at home and to do things together.

“We share the same basic attitudes to people and life. We just understand one another and it helps that we have had a bit of a laugh along the way.”