COUNCILLOR Maurice Oram travelled to France at the weekend to be presented with a medal to honour his commitment to town twinning.

Cllr Oram, (Lib Dem) a town, district and county councillor for Marlow, visited Marly-le-Roi in France where he was awarded La Medaille d'Honneur de la Ville.

He left for France by Eurostar on the morning of Saturday, January 6, and was greeted in Marly-le-Roi, which is 12 miles west of Paris, by the town mayor Bernard Longhi.

Cllr Oram said: "I arrived in Marly-le-Roi at 3.30pm and on Saturday evening I went out for dinner with the mayor and some other dignitaries from the town.

"It was a complete surprise to me that I was to be awarded the medal and I didn't find out about it until just after before Christmas."

Cllr Oram made an acceptance speech for his award in French.

He added: "The conversations were carried out mainly in French, but the mayor of Marly-le-Roi does speak a bit of English too."

Dennis Sargeant, chairman of the Marlow Twinning Association, congratulated Cllr Oram on his achievements.

He added: "I'm very pleased for Maurice.

"He has been involved in twinning since it began 28 years ago.

"This is a well-deserved honour."

Cllr Oram has made many visits to Marly-le-Roi over the years and was instrumental in the presentation of red telephone and post boxes in the town's main square, both of which are still in use today.

Cllr Oram is the third person to have been presented with the medal and was present at the very first twinning ceremony in June 1972, which celebrated the signing of the declaration of jumelage between the two towns.