HUNDREDS of people gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of a Keighley school.

At least 350 people congregated at St Anne's Catholic Church for a service to mark the golden jubilee of Holy Family Catholic School.

Among those present was the new bishop of Leeds Marcus Stock, who was making his first visit to Keighley.

He said the town had seen many changes since the school was founded, but stressed that as long as "endeavour" remained a key principle of Holy Family School it would continue to succeed.

To reflect the changing nature of the school some of the prayers were recited in Polish and Slovak. The first reading was delivered by Betty Vear, who was a pupil in Holy Family's original 1964 cohort.

Headteacher Martin Hings said: "A true sign of love, which our bishop Marcus mentioned, is that friends pull together.

"The fact that over 350 people turned up from all over Britain and Ireland shows we have that here in Holy Family."

Deputy head Damian Moore said: "I enjoyed the range of gifts that the governors brought up to our chaplain, Father Michael Walsh, each of which represented a decade.

"A lava lamp for the 1960s and a vinyl record for the 1970s caused lots of interest.

"Possibly the funniest item was the logbook which former deputy head Sean Gilligan brought along, documenting every day’s events from the 1960s.

"Lots of famous Keighley family names were included. I wonder what some grandchildren might think of their grandparents if they read it!"