Duncan Whitworth has recently celebrated 50 years of being a priest.

He marked the occasion of his golden jubilee on June 27, the day he was ordained, with a meal surrounded by friends.

The 74-year-old said: ’It was very nice, they’ve been like my family really.

’I knew they were going to do something, it was very kind of them.’

Church of England clergy are originally ordained as a deacon which usually lasts about a year before they can become a priest.

Mr Whitworth added: ’I’ve had a dog collar around my neck for 51 years - whether that’s kept me under control or not, I don’t know.’

Mr Whitworth originally arrived in the island in 1984 after being abroad in Europe.

He said: ’I did know the Isle of Man, I’d been as a child.

’I grew up in Manchester, so it was a holiday place for us to come to.’

The Port Erin local spent 28 years as a priest in St Matthew’s Church in Douglas.

Mr Whitworth continued: ’As a teenager, I’d been to St Matthew’s once when I came over with a friend for a holiday.

’I’d never have dreamed that 30 years later I’d be back as the Vicar and then I was there for 28 years which is quite a long time.’

Now he has retired, St Matthew’s Church hasn’t had a permanent Vicar for just under two years which Mr Whitmore feels isn’t a surprise.

He said: ’It’s very difficult, it always was, to get people to come to the Isle of Man.

’You’ve got to have your life here, so I’ve made my life here.

’If you saw the number of clergy on the hill on Tynwald Day it was very thin, there were only about 20 of us.’

Mr Whitworth was ’overjoyed’ to celebrate the landmark.

He said: ’It’s very nice to be remembered and to be in such a nice place like here to celebrate too.’