When travelling by coach, a lot of people end up sitting next to a stranger, but not one who goes on to become the person they vow to spend the rest of their life with.

But that's what happened for Kate and Royden Greaves, now living in Tunbridge Wells, who last week celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary after meeting by chance on a National Express coach in 2004.

Kate was going to visit her two sisters and when she boarded the 425 service from London Victoria to Nottingham she found there were not many seats available.

"I had a choice between an elderly lady and a good-looking young guy, so I chose the good-looking young guy," she said.

That "guy" was Royden, who was at university in London and was off to see his mum and sister.

It was the coach driver who provided them with the excuse to start chatting when he encouraged passengers to talk to the person next to them.

Kate recalled: “The driver made everyone laugh and created a warm atmosphere, but more than that he did something that was much longer lasting, which he will have no knowledge of.

“I chatted with the young man next to me for the whole of the journey up to Nottingham and then parted ways expecting never to see him again."

But fate finds a way and two days later they met once again on the return coach.

When they got back to London they exchanged phone numbers and began visiting one another - Kate in Kent and Royden in London - and soon love blossomed.

Royden said: "I used to love escaping London into the countryside and Kate would come to London, so it just naturally built from there."

Kate was starting her first year of university at Kingston which made it easier for them to meet up and a few years later they moved in together.

They tied the knot on September 15, 2012 - eight years after meeting on the coach.

Kate said: "When we first met, Royden was 19 and I was 17 - we were married at 27 and 25.

"There were even jokes from family members saying how our wedding cake should've been in the shape of a National Express coach.

"We moved from London to Tunbridge Wells two years after marriage and then a year later had our first baby.

"Suddenly we went from life being all about our careers and spending any free time together, to putting all our hearts and efforts into our daughter and then two years later, our son."

'We'd like to say thank you to the driver for breaking the ice for us that day. It just goes to show that small gestures can go a long way...'

Reflecting on how they met, Kate said: "Neither of us would have normally been on that coach at that exact time.

"It was pure chance or fate, depending on how you choose to see it.

"The driver asking the passengers to say hi to each other is also highly unlikely, but a fortunate circumstance for us and no doubt our lives would be very different now if that hadn't happened.

"We'd like to say thank you to the driver for breaking the ice for us that day.

"It just goes to show that small gestures can go a long way."

Kate and Royden enjoyed a meal at The Poet in Matfield to mark their anniversary and plan to continue the celebrations with a weekend in Cork next month.

While Kent is currently their home, it might not be long before they set off on another adventure - but not by coach.

Kate said: "Royden was born and brought up in Montserrat and has always had a dream of building a house there and so our plan is to design a family home on the island.

"We can spend time teaching our children about their Caribbean heritage and culture, so who knows, we may be living a tropical life - check in with us in 10 years time."