Three members of staff at Bratton Primary School were recognised this week for notching up 111 years of service between them.

Margaret Miller, Sue Bray and Sue Crow were presented with flowers and gifts at the Carpenter’s Lane school on Tuesday.

The school has also named three new awards after the loyal servants, which will be awarded to one pupil three times a year.

The awards are the Margaret Miller award for artistic creativity, the Sue Bray award for commitment and the Sue Crow award for problem solving.

Margaret Miller, 80, who has been at the school for 42 years, was the school’s first welfare assistant, as well as the lollipop lady for 13 years before moving into the classroom as a voluntary teaching assistant.

She said: “The school was very different when I joined - there was only three classrooms.

“I feel very flattered to have an award named after me.”

Dinnerlady Sue Bray has served up more than 9,000 school meals during her 38-year tenure at the school.

She said: “It doesn’t seem as though I’ve been here that long. The children are so gorgeous I feel I can’t leave. Each generation I’ve seen come through have been wonderful.”

Pupils and staff at the school had to keep the presentation a secret from dinnerlady Sue Crow, who joined the school in 1978, for fear that she wouldn’t show up.

She paid tribute to her colleagues: “Working with Mrs Miller and Mrs Bray has been fantastic. Mrs Miller is one of her own and Mrs Bray is a wonderful and quiet lady.”

Headteacher David Brown added: “The three ladies came out of the community to help us and that’s an example of the strong links we have with the village.

“It’s also good to have people who have been here for a long time because they have great knowledge about the village which can be passed on.”