Just days after retiring from Usk fire station after 35 years’ service, Station Commander Colin Jones was made an honorary burgess of the town.

The award was presented by the Mayor, Councillor Christine Wilkinson, at a ceremony in the Sessions House last Thursday attended by his family and fire service colleagues.

"I believe it’s the highest honour the town council can give to a resident so obviously I feel quite honoured!" he said.

Colin joined Usk fire station -  then part of Gwent Fire Brigade, now South Wales Fire Service - in 1984 and rose through the ranks to become leading fire fighter in 1996. For the past seven years he has been station commander.

"I will really miss it - not just the calls but the people I’ve worked with. You have to be a team person to do the job and this award is for all of them," he said.

Colin leaves with countless memories of the call-outs he has attended, locally and further afield, many of which haven’t involved fires.

"I’ve done everything from rescuing cats from trees and livestock stuck in silage pits to helping with flood relief operations, such as the time when six appliances from this area were despatched to Tewksbury to support Hereford and Worcestershire fire service."

He says his worst experience by far was attending the bus crash at Raglan in 1995 when eight people died and 35 were injured

The strangest experience was in 1990 when he had a call at 4pm on Christmas day to attend a fire in an agricultural building in Gwehelog - which turned out to be his own!

"I suppose it shows these things can happen to anyone. A halogen light bulb had broken and shattered, setting fire to the hay. We managed to get the livestock out into the field but the fire destroyed three tractors, all the hay and straw and the end of building.

"It ended up that the fire service paid me to put out my own fire!"

Colin, who’s 57, lives in Usk with partner Rachel and sons Ryan and Jamie. His ’day job’ is working with his brothers at their builders’ merchants and land drainage business, A Jones and Co, based on the Woodside estate.

For the past 38 years Colin has been secretary of Usk FC but his association with the club goes much further back. He started playing there in the under 10s and kept playing until he was 50 - and he’s still on the touchline every Saturday watching his sons!

Colin is now one of just four honorary burgesses of Usk, a title which, according to town clerk Tracey Huxley, affords you certain privileges like being able to ’walk around the town with a bayonet fixed to your rifle’, receiving invitations to town council events and being kept informed of council decisions.

"The real reason for awarding someone the title, of course, is that it’s a nice way for the town to thank someone publically for what they have done.

"Usk runs on a lot of goodwill and Colin is a really community-spirited person," she said.