FOUR key players at the town hall are looking forward to retirement after notching up more than 100 years' service between them.

The city council's chief environmental health officer Jim Robinson retires next month after 30 years.

Born in Nelson he began his Local Government life with Nelson Borough Council. When his family moved to Morecambe in 1971 he came with them and landed a job as a junior clerk in the audit section at a time when the authority was still known as Morecambe and Heysham Borough Council.

He then moved into the field of environmental health where he held a number of positions which together with numerous environmental qualifications, including a Master of Science degree in Applied Acoustics gained at the age of 40, combined to provide him with an excellent background for the role of chief environmental health officer which he has held since 1996.

Mr Robinson's expertise in his field has taken him abroad on a number of occasions including a visit to Poland where he was invited to present a lecture on recycling. One of the highlights of his career was a tour of Holland, Germany and Denmark investigating rendering plants! Commenting on his time with the authority he said: "Over a time span of 30 years one would expect changes, and there certainly have been many. Local Government is now a lot leaner and fitter, one thing that has not changed however is the pleasure of working in environmental health and with colleagues in the service and the council. I wish them well in the future."

Also retiring at the end of September will be Mr Robinson's long-time colleague, Carl Hargreaves. Carl, who is team leader in environmental health's civic amenities section. mr hargreaves has served the authority for 26 years. This month also sees the council saying farewell to two other highly regarded members of its environmental team. Cleansing Inspector John Whitehouse on August 22 - his 65th birthday - after 25 years with Lancaster City Council and this week will see one of the city council's longest ever serving members, cemetery supervisor, George Bower, retire after a magnificent 40 years of loyal service.

Commenting on the departures, Lancaster City Council's corporate director of community services Peter Loker said: "I am sorry to be losing such highly skilled people who between them have devoted more than a century of their lives to improving the quality of the environment in this area. They will be missed. However, I'm pleased that they will now have more time to enjoy what they've helped to create."