THE Countess of Wessex joined staff from the West Somerset Free Press to mark officially the paper's 150th anniversary at a special lunch held at the Royal Bath and West Show last week.

Free Press owner Sir Ray Tindle and the company's directors were also in attendance as the Free Press's milestone also coincided with the 150th anniversary of its sister papers, the Wellington Weekly News and the Totnes Times.

The Countess took time to meet each member of staff and presented special watches to managers and long-serving employees.

She congratulated the newspapers for being an integral part of the fabric of the communities they served and said owner Sir Ray had been an inspiration to newspaper proprietors throughout the country.

In turn, Sir Ray thanked the Countess and his staff for their support.

He said: "We are extremely honoured by your presence, Ma'am, which has made this the greatest day in the long lives of these three newspapers.

"Thank you for being with us to celebrate our reaching this rarely-achieved milestone in the history of any newspaper.

"For a company to have three newspapers reach it at the same time must be unique."

Commemorative watches were also given to all staff members and the Countess unveiled brass plaques to commemorate each newspaper's anniversary.

The Countess is pictured with the commemorative plaques and, top, with Sir Ray Tindle, group managing director Brian Doel and Wendy Craig, director and assistant to Sir Ray.