The couple, who have been married for 44 years, began collecting the Pools across South Tyneside together in the early 1970s.

Mrs Strand, 65, a retired cook at Marine Park Primary in South Shields, where she worked for 13 years, said: "We're both retired now, so we felt it was the right time to give it up.

"When we started out, the pools were very popular. We used to go door to door collecting and eventually people became friends.

"We've been invited to people's weddings, christenings and anniversaries. You really get to know people over the years.

"I'll definitely miss the people, although I won't miss collecting in the snow and torrential rain.

"When we stopped collecting we got lots of cards and presents and a few bottles of wine from our customers, which was really nice."

The football betting pools are based on predicting the outcome of top-level matches set to take place in the coming week.

Mr Strand, 66, a retired sheet metal worker, said: "We've seen families grow up from being little kids and have been invited to all the weddings and christenings.

"I've had coupons from as far away as Morpeth when I used to collect the syndicates from the shipyards.

"It's all done by machine now. You have to carry it with you from door to door and people have a little card they use that remembers the numbers, it's much easier that way."

He added: "When the Lottery was introduced, things changed and people didn't tend to do them so much.

"At one time you could win up to £400,000, but now the average big win tends to be about £20,000, although the biggest win we saw was £14,000, which was a lot at the time."

The pair, who have been retired from work for two years, are enjoying the extra time and freedom they have had since giving up their collections, with green-fingered Mr Strand spending more time in his garden.

Mrs Strand said: "Before we gave up collecting, we used to have to tell people when we were going away and for how long, so they could put two or three weeks of the Pools on.

"Now we don't have to do that, so we can go away on our little trips or whatever we like.

"I've been spending some time tracing my ancestry, which has been very interesting. So far, I've managed to get back to the 1700s and uncovered a few surprises along the way."