AFTER leaving bosses seeing double for 49 years, twins Joe and Tom Healey retired from their factory jobs on the same day.

The pair, 64, have worked at the same companies, married women from the same town, and both have two children.

Joe, secretary of traditional clog dancing group the Britannia Coco-nutters, said he and Tom have always loved spending time together, including at work in Haslingden.

He said: “We’ve had a lot of fun with it over the years, being identical.

“One day, when we were 29, we were at work and thought we’d play a prank on our wives.

“I asked him what he does when he gets home so we could do the other one’s normal routines.

“We swapped suits and I went to his house and he went to mine.

“Tom’s wife, Judy, noticed straight away but my wife, Lynn, was just talking about what we were having for tea until Judy called her up and told her. They weren’t very happy. It was a bit cheeky!”

The brothers, who live in Bacup, started work at Rossendale Valley Footwear after leaving school when they were 15.

They then moved to Newchurch Boot Company, and then Fairfield Footwear.

After spending a period at the Prudential, they began running their own firm, Healey Starr Financial Services, for 10 years.

They ended up working at Smiths Medical International in St Crispin Way, Haslingden, where they spent the last 11 years of their careers.

Joe said he and Tom, who play tuba and cornet in Stacksteads Band, come as a pair.

He said: “It’s quite special. We do do some strange things too.”

One Christmas, when the pair were separately decorating their homes, Tom visited what was Hooley’s Electrical Store in Bacup.

He bought fairy lights, a 40-watt bulb and a two-way plug.

Later the same day, Joe went to the shop and bought the same items.

He said: “The lady in the shop looked at me and said ‘are you alright?’ and I said yes. She asked me if there was something wrong with the things I bought before, then I realised Tom must’ve been in.

“We have an uncanny connection.”