A malvern man was celebrating this week in 1978.

Fred Holland, aged 84, had been working for the same firm for 70 years - making coffins.

Mr Holland, of Wilton Road, Barnards Green, began as an apprentice with F Williams, funeral directors, in Barnards Green Road, on March 2, 1908.

He told the Malvern Gazette: "When I first started I used to earn two shillings for doing a 60-hour week. I used to have to be at work at 6am after cycling from my home in Bromesberrow."

By the end of his apprenticeship, Mr Holland was earning the princely sum of 10 shillings a week.

After 31 years making thousands of coffins, he bought the business from Mr Williams and it became known as F Holland, funeral directors.

But the fact that he now owned the business did not stop Mr Holland from helping out on the carpentry side. In fact, he could still be found "measuring up" as he celebrated his 70 years with the firm.

His only break from the business came in the First World War, when he served with the Royal Field Artillery in France, winning three service medals.

Mr Holland said he did not find it worrying to work with coffins all the time.

He told the Gazette: "I did when I first started but you soon get used to them. It just becomes another piece of carpentry."