A BRASS band from Flixton has bid a fond farewell to a member of extraordinary experience. 

Paul Thomason left Flixton Band in October after almost 30 years, 12 of them as its manager. 

At a meeting of the brass band, he was thanked for his service with a life membership and a position as a vice president. 

Will Haw, who is taking over as the manager of Flixton Band, made the presentation and paid tribute to his predecessor. 

He said: "In Paul’s time, the band has faced several challenges and we owe our current stability as an organisation in large part to his efforts.  

“Paul’s achievements include securing a new band room when our previous location at Bowfell House was due to be bulldozed to make space for a new residential home.  

"He was also instrumental in the vision to create our community band and in obtaining the charitable funds to provide new instruments to realise this vision. 

"We wish Paul all the very best and trust that we will be seeing him regularly as he takes advantage of his free concert attendance,” he added.