A 21-gun salute was being fired in York today to mark the 66th birthday of the Prince of Wales and the retirement of a long-serving Army major.

Major Chad Fowler, 64, has organised 50 Royal Salutes in the city and was the inspecting officer as the 4th Regiment Royal Artillery fired the salute at noon.

Major Fowler is retiring as the second-in-command at York Garrison and has served 45 years in the Army starting his Army career with a medical in Imphal Barracks in 1969.

He has been the York Garrison Staff Officer for nine years and has organised and advised on major events in the city including the welcome home parades, dozens of Freedom parades and Remembrance parades.

Maj Fowler lives in Sutton-on-Derwent and served in Northern Ireland, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Malta, Portugal, Canada, the USA and Belize with the Royal Artillery since 1970.

He said: "I have organised 50 Royal Salutes over the years and I feel privileged to be the inspecting officer at my 51st and last.

"Organising the annual Kohima commemoration days has been the high spot for me because of the significance of it being the greatest battle of the Second World War. It has been an honour to look after the veterans who journey to York each year for this service and wreath-laying and to remember their colleagues who fell in the battle."

York is one of 12 saluting stations in Britain and the only in the North of England.