THREE decades of friendship and cultural exchange were celebrated when German visitors spent four days in their County Durham twin town.

Sedgefield, twinned with Hamminkeln, in Germany, was home to almost two dozen visitors at the weekend as they visited friends and toured the region.

The group enjoyed entertained by Sedgefield Lirica at Sedgefield Cricket Club before they met the Mayor of Sedgefield, Cllr David Brown and visited Durham Cathedral.

Bernd Romanski, mayor of Hamminkeln, said: “This is the first time I have visited Sedgefield and I have found it to be a very interesting village.

“It is nice and traditional and that really fits well with our city of Hamminkeln which has lots of little separate villages.

“Sedgefield has been twinned with Hamminkeln for 32 years and during that time a lot of personal friendships have been established.

“Some of our visitors have been coming here since we began the partnership and it is one we hope will continue to flourish for many years to come.”