ONE of Gwent's longest serving councillors has announced he is to retire.

John Huntley, pictured, who lives in Bulwark, is retiring from Chepstow town council, bringing to an end a political career which spans more than 40 years.

Originally from Ebbw Vale, the 74-year-old was first elected as a Labour Party member on the Chepstow Urban District Council in 1963.

Mr Huntley said: "I have seen Chepstow change over the years, from the development of the Severn Bridge Social Club, which was one of my projects; the Bulwark Senior Citizens Club, and the transferring of the War Memorial Library to Chepstow Library.

"The Danes wasn't built when I started my career and the A466 hadn't been constructed.

"I was even at the official opening of the first Severn Bridge."

Mr Huntley was leader of Chepstow Urban District Council in 1965 and became its chairman in 1968.

He was also chairman of Gwent County Council in 1992 and Mayor of Chepstow in 1994 and 1995.

Mr Huntley has spent a long time in local politics, instigating many changes along the way.

He says, however, that politics is not his first love and that he will devote his time during retirement to the Submarine Association, of which he is a life vice-president. He served in the Royal Navy between 1946 and 1954.

After leaving the Royal Navy, Mr Huntley worked at the Ebbw Vale steelworks, where he became an active trade unionist, chairing the branch of the Iron and Steel Trade Federation.

Mr Huntley has been married to his wife Anne for 48 years and hopes he can now also spend more time with her and their family.