VETERAN St John Ambulance volunteer Roy Crowle was being honoured at an award ceremony in London on Friday for a lifetime's work in caring for others.

Mr Crowle, from Derriads Lane, Chippenham was invested as a member of the Order of St John at an event at the historic grand Priory Church in London.

He was due to catch a train from Chippenham to London on Friday morning but decided to travel from Swindon because of the Royal visit.

Mr Crowle, 67, has been a volunteer for St John Ambulance since 1955. It is this dedication and exceptional voluntary service that earned him the honour.

"When I came out of the air force a friend of mine encouraged me to join the local branch of St John Ambulance, which was in Corsham then. I just became more interested in caring for people as time went on," said Mr Crowle.

Mr Crowle joined the full time ambulance service in 1963. He was stationed first at Chippenham and moved to Swindon as divisional commander.

He worked at the control centre at Chippenham and finally retired in 1996 as deputy chief ambulance officer.

Mr Crowle is currently president of the Chippenham branch of the St John Ambulance. He has held positions as Commissioner for Wiltshire and worked as an advisor for the south west region.

"It has been a very varied career and being a member of St John Ambulance ran well alongside my full time career," said Mr Crowle.

He was joining around 100 people of all nationalities and walks of life, to be invested by the Prior of the Order of St John, Lord Slynn of Hadley.