DESPITE spending the last 60 years working at Marlborough College in various roles, Ron Jones says he has no desire to retire to any time soon.

Staff at the college held a special presentation for the 75-year-old on Friday to thank him for the six decades he has served the school.

Mr Jones, who also worked for the Marlborough Fire Brigade from 1968 to 1997, has spent the last 10 years as a dining hall supervisor and says he still loves the college just as much as he did when he joined back in 1957.

"I have enjoyed it immensely. It is strange to think that it has been 60 years. It really has flown by. Even though it has been a long time I hope that my time will carry on for a few more years at least," he said.

That journey began 50 years ago on on April 23 where he joined the Estate Department as an apprentice carpenter at the age of 15.

After completing his five-year-long apprenticeship he moved his way up the ranks to become a carpentry foreman before getting the top carpentry job of all, general foreman in 1996.

Mr Jones, who lives in Herd Street, held this position for 11 years before retiring in 2007, having spent half a century working at the Estates Department.

However in a swift turnaround, he was persuaded to stay on as dining hall supervisor - a post he has held for the last decade.

"I love the college. I love being in contact with the staff and pupils. I have been treated so well here, they made me feel right at home," he said.

"It was a very interesting time juggling my work here and at the fire station. It would be quite tiring but it was so rewarding. A lot of the fire drills were out of hours, on a Wednesday night and on a Sunday, so I got by.

"I remember having to drop my tools and run as fast as I could to the fire station as the old siren went off above the town hall, signalling there was a fire.

"Looking back on it now, people will say how did you do both but I say I was a lot younger and fitter back then. It has been a pleasure being here and I do not see the finish line just yet."

Mr Jones' family have also worked at the school as his mother was a housekeeper for the Master's lodge, his father was a storeman and his grandfather was a groundsman.