TWO sisters who have not seen each other for more than 29 years have been reunited for an East Lancashire couple's 25th wedding anniversary party.

Zdziswav and Marianne Sudnik, of The Evergreens, Holly Tree Village, Feniscowles, are repeating their marriage vows this weekend.

And they have brought together Zdziswav's aunts Janina Ogronska, 72, from Poznan, Poland, and Lusia Piorkowski, 57, from South Africa, for the ceremony.

They met up with a third sister, Christina Sudnik, of Preston, when they arrived in Blackburn this week.

Blackburn-born Marianne, who has an Austrian mother and a Ukrainian father, said: "The pair have not seen each other since July 1968 because of the distance between their homes, although Christina has seen them both during that time.

"It was all quite emotional. They always think about each other. It is great that they have both been able to come for the anniversary. "As soon as we got them together they started chatting away and we couldn't get a word in."

Zdziswav, who is known as Roy, was born after his Polish parents came to live in Preston after the Second World War.

Janina stayed in Poland and Lusia came to England with Christina before moving to South Africa 25 years ago with her husband, Stan.

Janina travelled to Blackburn by coach with her daughter Josefa, 44, and Josefa's son Marcin, 20, for a two-week stay. Lusia and her husband flew into Britain for a four to five-day stay.

Marianne, 44, and Zdziswav, 45, who have three children Andreas, 20, Katrina, 14, and Danusia, 12, will repeat their vows with the local Polish parish priest Father Alexander Makulski at Our Queen of Poland Chapel, Polish Catholic Centre, Preston New Road, Blackburn.

They will wear new wedding rings they bought on holiday in Poland this year and will celebrate their anniversary with a party at the Polish Club, Shear Bank Road, Blackburn, after the ceremony, at 4.30pm on Saturday.

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