A CHURCH marked the 25th anniversary of a priest's ordination during a mass this week.

Father Ray Burr became a priest in 1986 and served across the area before he returned to his home town after retirement.

Born towards the end of the Second World War, Fr Burr left school at 15 and followed his father to the Whessoe engineering company.

He became a priest in 1986 and served in Hartlepool, Sherburn and Easington Lane, before retiring in May 2008, just before his 65th birthday.

Since then, he has worshipped in Darlington with the congregation at St James the Great Church.

On Wednesday, the church held a thanksgiving mass to celebrate the silver jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood.

Fr Ian Grieves, vicar at St James, said: "He gave up his job to join the priesthood. The people he trained with at Whessoe speak very highly of him."