A PENDLE serviceman is at sea this Christmas – but he’s still found time to send festive greetings to his family.

Sailor Graeme Hinton, from Barnoldswick, will spend Christmas Day in the Persian Gulf, on board the Royal Navy frigate HMS Kent. The 38-year-old former student at Edge End High School in Nelson, is an engineering technician on board one of eight Royal Navy ships deployed to the Gulf.

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He said: “I would like to wish my family and friends a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I miss you all and I look forward to seeing you in 2015 when I return to the UK.”

And while CPO Hinton’s wife, Dawn, and parents Adrienne and Christopher, will have lunch back home, he and the sailors will be served turkey and all the trimmings by the ship’s officers, as is naval tradition.

CPO Hinton, who joined the Royal Navy in April 2003, is the propulsion systems maintainer on board and is responsible for keeping the ship moving. He cites his favourite deployment so far as being on HMS Ark Royal in 2010, when he was deployed to the East coast of North America.

He said: “Being part of an international Fleet review in Canada with a sail past by the Queen was a real honour.”

A spokesman for the Royal Navy added: “Over the festive period he will be based on HMS Kent providing support to the operations in the Gulf region. The ship is usually based at Portsmouth in Hampshire but will remain in the Gulf until her return in May.

“HMS Kent’s presence in the region is a demonstration of the UK’s continued commitment to enduring peace and stability across the Gulf and Indian Ocean delivering maritime security.”