A SON has followed in the footsteps of his parents by getting married in the same church – 61 years on!

Paul Schofield, aged 59, tied the knot with Janet Murray, aged 53, at St Stephen and All Martyrs, Radcliffe Road, Darcy Lever.

The marriage was in tribute to his late parents Gordon and Jean Schofield, from Springfield, who married there on the same date in 1956.

Paul’s sister Wendy, aged 56, said the couple from Bradley Fold decided on the date because his mum and dad had married at that church.

Wendy said: “Because our parents would not be at the wedding, he decided it would be a nice thing to marry Janet at the church on the same date as they had wed there, all those years before.”

Dad Gordon, 62, worked for many years at a paper mill and died aged 75 in 2007, while wife Jean died in 1992.

Paul works as a warehouse manager at Heightvale Ltd, and Janet is a customer sales adviser with medical firm Vernacare.

Wendy added: “Our mum and dad played a big part in the service and there were pictures of Gordon and Jean showing them on their wedding day displayed at the back of church during the service. It was a very emotional event.”