FIFTY years after five-year-old birthday boy Alan Haines planted a rare tree to mark Coronation Day in Holt he has celebrated turning 55 in royal style.

Mr Raines, of Priory Close, Bradford on Avon, was one of 1,000 members of the public to win a ballot to join the Queen for her 50th anniversary Coronation service at Westminster Abbey on Monday.

The birthday trip, with wife Eileen, nearly turned into a nightmare when a hold up on the tube train meant they had to take a taxi and feared turning up late. Then there was also a mix up with their seats.

Mr Raines said: "There was some kind of mix up so a man came back and said we were to be upgraded.

"We were taken through the Abbey, past the choir stalls and the chairs where we were told the Queen and royal family would be sitting and shown to our seats. We were just behind where all the foreign dignitaries sat.

"We were about 12 rows back, and could not see a lot, but there were great wide television screens. It was absolutely brilliant."

Priority was given to people with links to the 1953 Coronation and Mr Raine's application included a cutting from the Wiltshire Times article when he was chosen to plant Holt's Corona-tion Red Horse Chestnut Tree.

Mr Raines said: "I was picked because it was my birthday and I was helped by two people whose birthdays were the day before and day after. I still have the silver trowel I used. It is so special I haven't used it since."