BREWERY worker Bill Sledden raised a glass to his workmates on his retirement after 17 years of getting the beers in.

Bill, born and bred in Church, worked primarily as a drayman for Blackburn brewers Daniel Thwaites, distributing around the North and sometimes working in the warehouse.

"I'm retiring with lots of happy memories, good laughs and good mates," said Bill on his final afternoon.

Bill, 61, and his wife Kathleen, a home care worker, were guests at a ceremony at Thwaites' distribution centre on Blackburn's Shadsworth Industrial Estate.

The couple, married for 32 years, have brought up five children, four girls and a boy, and Bill is now looking forward to raising chickens and a hen-pecked retirement.

"Rearing chickens has long been a hobby of mine," he explained.

"I have a pen with livestock and I used to provide the lads with eggs. I'll be spending more time on that now."

Workmate Steve Carroll, who travelled with Bill for many years on a route that stretched from Carlisle through Cumbria, Lancashire, Yorkshire and North Wales, organised a retiring collection for his pal.