AN invitation from the Queen was the retirement gift for four long-serving teachers from a Lytham school.

David Child, Shelagh Paine, Guy Maslin and David Matthews retired from King Edward VII and Queen Mary school last week after a total of 125 years of service.

The teachers were guests at a royal garden party at Buckingham Palace, attended by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles. David Matthews, the school's head of chemistry who spent all 36 years of his teaching career in Lytham, said: "It was a superb occasion and a memorable way to round off our final year of teaching."

Principal Julian Wilde paid a warm tribute: "They have all served the school with great distinction and many generations of students and parents have reason to be thankful for their hard work and dedication," he said.