WHEN blowing out the candles on their 75th birthday cake, most people will have stopped work at least a decade earlier.

But for one familiar Bungay face, it was just a small part of another day hard at work as George Ling clocked up six decades of employment.

Mr Ling, who works as a funeral director at Rosedale Funeral Home in Beccles and Bungay, was given a special presentation from past and present workmates two days before his 75th birthday, which he celebrated on New Year’s Day.

He said: “I walked in the door and I saw our manager standing here and I wondered what they were doing here.

“The next thing I knew they all walked out the door with a cake with candles on it.”

Mr Ling, a former president of Waveney Valley Golf Club, was also treated to a stay at Thorpeness Hotel and Golf Club, as well as cards and a box of chocolates.

Rosedale Funeral Home manager Anne Beckett-Allen said: “Everyone knows George and even though he’s 75 they still expect to see him when Rosedale conducts a local funeral.

“At an age when many would be content to focus on retirement, it’s marvellous that George is keen to continue to serve local families.”

The landmark was the latest in a long working history for Wrentham-born grandfather-of-two Mr Ling who first started in forestry at Sotterley Estate when he was 15 years old.

He did that for three years before spending two years of national service at Aldershot. He returned to Bungay and spent many years as a long haul driver, taking Clays books across the country, before stopping to run The Swan pub.

Mr Ling, of Wingfield Street, started as a pall-bearer in 1966 and at one time did this, ran The Swan pub and the taxi firm Lings all at the same time.

In 2006 he started at Rosedale Funeral Home and, while working as a funeral director in Bungay, has also helped to set up their office in Beccles.

Asked how long he will continue, Mr Ling said: “As long as they want me.”

He added: “I enjoy doing it, meeting people and looking after them in their time of need.

“I think I enjoy doing this as much as anything I’ve ever done.”