A GROUP of Evesham residents visited their twin town to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the link.

The Evesham Twinning Association, including town mayor Cllr Richard Jones and his family visited twin town Dreux in France.

This was a triple celebration for the French town, who were also celebrating the 45th anniversary of their twin town of Koudougou in Burkina Faso and the 25th anniversary of their twin town of Bautzen, in the former East Germany.

The group travelled over for four days via the Eurostar.

The main programme of events was on Saturday, leaving Sunday for the English Twinners to spend some time with their French hosts.

The day kicked off with a meeting at the Dreux Mairie, or Town Hall, of all four mayors and twinning presidents, including chairman councillor John Smith.

After a chess tournament and the official opening of the Saint Denis fair, there was a formal Twinning Ceremony where the charters were signed by all the mayors.

After an official lunch for the mayors and presidents, there was a parade through the town of the new vineyard guards, including Sally Hammond, Michael Worrall and John Smith resplendent in their blue and yellow uniforms each carrying a dangerous looking halberd.

There was then an official opening of the twinning photographic exhibition in the Hotel Dieu with a free drink for all visitors and an exchange of gifts.

The day finished with a social evening for all the guests and their visitors in a local sports centre with music provided by a band of youngsters from Bauzen.