ERIC Hitchins was 14 when he rang the church bells in North Bradley to mark the end of the Second World War, now on the 70th anniversary of VE Day he has returned to do it all again.

On May 8 in 1945 Mr Hitchins, 84, who lived in Bradley Road, his older brother Laurence and four others rang the bells at the Church of St Nicholas for nearly three hours to celebrate the end of the war.

Their names have been added to a wooden plaque in the bell tower to commemorate the day and Mr Hitchins, his wife Trish and six friends relived that moment today and rang the bells for a quarter peal lasting 45 minutes.

“You don’t have a 70th anniversary every day,” Mr Hitchins said. “But when you have something so big in the sense you’re ringing for VE Day it’s really a magnificent event.”

Returning all these years later Mr Hitchins, who now lives in Wimborne, in Dorset, says not much has changed apart from two new bells in the tower.

“There were six bells here at that time,” he said. “Three of the band who rang here on that day died some while ago but myself and my brother and Fred Slatford who lives at Hilperton, were taught to ring together. So what they did on VE Day, once the date was known, was arrange to have the bells for a peal.”

Mr Hitchin is part of the Wimborne Band of Ringers who travel together to various churches as part of their group.

He added: “Ringing is a fantastic fraternity of friends and people who meet often and enjoy countless hours of ringing. My colleagues here, we’ve been ringing since the 60s.”

Today was also a special occasion for Mrs Hitchins, 68, who was able to share the anniversary with her husband. She said: “I’m so proud of him because I wasn’t born when it was VE Day, so for me there are no personal memories and it’s very special to be with someone who lived through and experienced it.”