LONDON (AFP) -- Lifetime lovers Frank and Anita Milford have become Britain's longest-married living couple after celebrating their 78th wedding anniversary, newspapers reported Wednesday.

The pair met as teenagers in 1926 and married two years later. Asked for the secret of their enduring union, Frank Milford, 98, a retired dock worker, was quoted in The Daily Telegraph as saying: "We don't always see eye to eye and we do have a small argument every day. His 97-year-old wife added: "The key is lots of laughter."

With their relationship as strong as ever, the couple hope to beat the record for Britain's longest-ever marriage of 80 years, set by Percy and Florence Arrowsmith. Percy Arrowsmith died last year.

The pensioners, who lived in a bungalow in the St Budeaux area of Plymouth until last year when they moved into a nursing home, have two children, Marie and Frank, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Elaine Clarke, a senior care assistant at the Warwick Park Nursing Home, said of the couple: "It is very rare to see something like this. They are always by each other's side." "They are still very much in love," she added.

The world's longest marriage on record is 86 years, set by two couples -- cousins Sir Temulji Bhicaji Nariman and Lady Narima who lived in India and were married in 1853 and U.S. couple Lazarus Rowe and Molly Webber, who tied the knot in 1743, The Daily Telegraph said.