Welwyn Hatfield Times editor Terry Mitchinson has celebrated an important milestone.

For the end of September marked the 40th anniversary of his working on the award-wining local paper.

Back in 1975 the then editor Robert Richardson offered Terry a job as a junior reporter.

And it was Mr Richardson who decided to mark the occasion by arranging a surprise ‘birthday’ party.

Mr Richardson, who lives in Old Hatfield, managed to contact some of the people who were at the paper four decades ago and invited them all to a gathering at the White Horse in Welwyn.

Terry said: “It was a really lovely thing for Robert to have done.

“He gave me my first job in the business, little did I know I’d still be working on the paper 40 years later.

“It was great to see some of the old faces again and I thank them for coming along.”

For more on the event read Charlie Boy Meynard’s column in this week’s Welwyn Hatfield Times.