MEALS on Wheels volunteers in Barnoldswick had their efforts officially recognised this week.

The Barnoldswick Branch of the Women's Royal Voluntary Service started running a Meals on Wheels service in 1962 and did so continuously until just before Christmas, when volunteers delivered their last meals.

Now the service is run by Lancashire County Council's social services department, bringing to an end more than four decades of voluntary service in the town.

Nora Newsome, of Coates Lane, was one of the first volunteers who got the service off the ground and then spent 37 years as local co-ordinator, organising the teams of volunteers and helping to ensure that not a single meal went undelivered.

She and her team of 46 drivers and deliverers enjoyed Wednesday's gathering and presentation at Barnoldswick Civic Hall, just across from the Genevieve restaurant, where the meals were prepared.

Each volunteer received a certificate from the WRVS bearing their name and the number of years' service they had given to Meals on Wheels.

Mrs Newsome was also presented with a bouquet and some bulbs by Pam Marsden, head of the county council's social services department for Burnley Pendle and Rossendale.

"It was a really nice do and a chance for all the volunteers to get together and mark the end of our involvement in Meals on Wheels," said Mrs Newsome. "I think it was important to have some kind of final event after more than 40 years."

Over the years the Barnoldswick WRVS branch has provided a wide range of services including a clothing store, luncheon club, sweet trolley at a home for the elderly, prison visiting and children's holidays. Gradually those functions have ceased and now, with the transfer of Meals on Wheels, the branch has become temporarily inactive.