A FORMER mayor and his wife have celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.

Keith Mennell has been in public life in Norton for 36 years and has held the chains of office seven times.

He met his wife, Cynthia, on a blind date at a Red Cross Society event and they married a short time later. They have one son and a grandson.

Mr Mennell was chairman of Malton Motor Club for many years and is a long-serving member of Malton and Norton Road Safety Committee. Mrs Mennell has helped to run the local Meals on Wheels service for 16 years.

Among those helping to celebrate their anniversary on Thursday was a 100-year-old aunt who had travelled from Hitchin, in Hertfordshire.