FORTY-FOUR years and four months as councillor earned Mr William "Bill" Johnson the title of Mr Tottington and this week his service to the community earned him the freedom of Bury.

Mr Johnson was Bury's longest serving councillor until he stepped down in June, and is only the second man since 1974 to have been awarded honorary freedom of the borough.

He laughed: "To be told I was getting this was a bolt out of the blue! I'm not sure what the title means. I understand that in London the title allows you to walk your cattle over a bridge.

"Well I say, look out Bury Bridge!"

He added: " But I am very proud to have been given this honour."

Now aged 81, Mr Johnson lives at Clay Butts Farm, Tottington, with his wife Joyce, retired head teacher of St Mary's CE Primary School, Hawkshaw. He has four children and 10 grandchildren.

Mr Johnson took the decision to enter local politics following a conversation on a bus.

"I was talking to this lady, who was complaining about something that the council should have done, but had not done. I agreed with her, and I showed her a letter that I had received inviting me to join the Conservative Party.

"She said to me 'You are our man!'. I have been their man ever since!

"Today I am known as Mr Tottington, a title of which I am extremely proud. It is because I have always put people over politics. People have always come first."

The now retired local government worker for Bolton Council, soon made headlines after becoming councillor when he secured mains water and drainage for the residents of Affetside and Tottington in the 1960s. While many residents were enjoying the convenience of a mains water supply, areas of Walshaw, Tottington and Affetside were forced to collect well water.

"The council were all for demolishing the houses on health grounds. I found this deplorable, these people had helped to pay for mains water in Greenmount and were now under threat of losing their homes.

"I was determined that this would not happen."

So the new councillor, went "cap in hand" to the then Turton Council to ask if they could supply a link.

"They did, and did not charge us anything," said Mr Johnson. "Now the houses the council wanted to demolish are among the most expensive in the borough!"

Mr Johnson's association with water, however, did not end there.

"Pools of water kept appearing in strange places in the house soon after," he explained.

"I even found a pool of water in my trouser pocket! There was no explanation for why this was happening. It was only when we were having work done on the house we came across a child's wooden clog, something that in the past was used to ward off evil spirits. We put the clog outside, and no more water appeared after that!"

Until ill-health forced him to retire as a councillor this year, Mr Johnson continued to campaign for Tottington.

"Tottington has been in existence longer than Bury, it was a Royal Manor. I have fought tooth and nail to preserve its character," said Mr Johnson, who was responsible for establishing the village's first youth club.

During his long service, Mr Johnson held the position of chairman of Tottington Urban District Council on two occasions, 1965-1966 and 1971 to 1972. When it merged with Bury, Mr Johnson was mayor twice, once in 1988/89 and the first mayor of the new millennium.

In 1996 he was awarded an MBE in recognition of his services to the community and to local government.

He commented: "Being mayor was deeply humbling, seeing all the good work people do.

"Being councillor was very rewarding, being able to make a difference, no matter how small."

Although officially retired, Mr Johnson is still very much involved in community life. Taking an active part in the town's twinning association, of which his wife is chairman, he regularly helps arrange exchange visits for Tottington High School, of which he is chairman of governors, with children from Schorndorf in Germany. He also continues to promote links with Woodbury, Angouleme and Tulle.

"Twinning is very important as it helps promote peace on earth," said Mr Johnson. "It is a wonderful experience for the children."

He added: "Just because I have retired, I am certainly not going away. I am still very busy and involved in the community.

"People have said they cannot get used to not calling me councillor. And if the people of Tottington need me in the future, I will be here for them."