THE retiring custodian of the oldest unbroken daily ceremony in the world has been heralded for his dedication to maintaining the tradition.

George Pickles, who earlier this year stepped down as Ripon's Hornblower after 12 years of performing the nightly ritual of Setting the Watch, said he had been thrilled to be recognised for his services to the city with a Citizenship Award by the Ripon's council last week.

He believes he will be the last in a line dating back hundreds of years to singularly hold the title.

The former machine tool supplier said as no one had stepped forward to take on his role, the council had agreed that it should be shared between three people to share the burden of blowing an Ox-type animal horn at each corner of the Market Place's grade I listed obelisk at 9pm every night, whatever the weather.

The ceremony, which Mr Pickles has performed more than 3,000 times before 90,000 visitors wearing the hornblower's fawn frock coat and tricorn hat uniform, also involves seeking out the Mayor of Ripon - whether he or she is at home or at a function - to blow three more times to signal the watch has been set.

The 77-year-old said: "It has been an absolute pleasure and I wish I was starting all over, so I couldn't believe nobody wanted the job.

"They say the Ripon Hornblower is the most photographed man in Britain - I get recognised wherever I go.

"I've had a lot of laughs. One night when the mayor was at a function at the racecourse, I arrived to find all the gates locked, so I had to climb over a wall in my uniform.

"Sometimes I wouldn't get home until 11pm, so to be able to continue the tradition it will have to become a job share to enable people with jobs and family commitments to be able to do it."

As well as maintaining the ceremony, which some historians claim dates to 886, when Alfred the Great gave the city a horn instead of Royal Charter scroll, Mr Pickles has served as an ambassador for the city, staging balls and presenting talks about its history to clubs across the north of England, raising £40,000 for charities.

Mr Pickles said his favourite part of the role had been welcoming people to Ripon from all over the world.

He said: "Ripon depends on its tourist industry and while you get people coming to the ceremony from Canada and Australia, the millions of people living in Yorkshire and the North East don't seem to know about it."