Former district councillor Harold Judkins had a big surprise on Saturday when his whole street turned out to congratulate him on his 90th birthday.

Mr Judkins had an inkling something might be up when neighbours in Sunnyside, West Lavington, began preparations for a huge street party.

But he was astonished when he realised that all the ballyhoo was in his honour. Mr Judkins said: “It was wonderful. The whole street had turned out. There were tables laid with food, 90 balloons and the children had made paper aeroplanes because of my air force connections.

“They put up a marquee and there was a sing-song with a lot of wartime numbers. It couldn’t have been better.

“I wasn’t supposed to know anything about but I overheard my wife talking to neighbours so I knew something was going on.

“It gives you a wonderful feeling when your neighbours do something like this for you.”

Mr Judkins was in the RAF for 21 years, ending his career as a Flight Sergeant on the engineering side. A lot of his career was spent at Boscombe Down as a flight test engineer.

He and his wife Marjorie have been married for 62 years and the couple have lived in Sunnyside for 45 years. Mr Judkins represented West Lavington on Kennet District Council for several years during the 1980s.

The couple have three sons and seven grandchildren.

Mr Judkins said: “They were all there. It was wonderful to see all those people in Sunnyside, all friends together, enjoying a street party just like after the war.”

Mr Judkins’ neighbour, Harold Wimbledon, said: “It was a lot of hard work but it was well worth it for someone like Harold Judkins. Neighbours in Sunnyside are used to huge public events in their little cul-de-sac as Lavender and Hugh Davy used to host Lavington Amateur Dramatic Society’s summer productions in their garden."