WHEN Hereford's Percy and Florence Arrowsmith were confirmed as the world's longest married living couple, they attracted the attention of the world's press.

On their 80th wedding anniversary - so rare an achievement there is no material precious enough to mark it - the Queen sent a telegram, the Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Rev Anthony Priddis, visited to bless the couple's long union and a Guinness Book of World Records representative arrived to present them with their certificate.

Unfortunately, as eagle-eyed viewers of the television coverage of the presentation noticed, Hereford suffered a slight geographical slip of the pen and was moved to Hertfordshire.

A spokeswoman for the Guinness Book of World Records admitted the slip-up but confirmed that a replacement certificate was immediately despatched to Percy and Florence's Breinton Road home.

"Apparently eight viewers called the TV station," she said. "As soon as we noticed what had happened, we arranged for a new framed certificate to be sent."

Coincidentally, just as the Arrowsmiths' 80-year marriage was confirmed as the world's longest, Powergen Staywarm had launched a search for the UK's longest-lasting marriage, with 'a party to remember' for the winning couple.

However, when they spoke to Percy and Florence's family, they discovered that what the couple would really like was to meet their favourite character from Coronation Street - Chesney, played by Sam Aston.

"We were more than happy to arrange this," said Martin Melbourne, head of social affairs at E.ON UK, the company that runs Powergen. "And Sam was delighted to oblige."