CREW from Richmond's adopted ship welcome the town's civic guests on board this week.

On Monday, Coun Stuart Parsons, the Mayor of Richmond, headed a civic party which visited HMS Richmond at its berth in Newcastle.

Guests joined Cdr Wayne Keble and senior crew in the officers' mess for a buffet lunch prepared and served by students from Bishop Auckland College.

The catering students worked alongside the ship's galley crew to provide the meal.

Guests then had the chance to tour the Type 23 frigate, built at Wallsend and launched in 1993.

Coun Parsons presented a framed Turner print of Richmond to Cdr Keble, who relinquishes command of the ship for a desk job in London next month.

Cdr Keble gave a picture of the ship, signed by himself and fellow officers, to the town.

Other guests on board on Monday included students from the entry to uniformed services course at Darlington College of Technology.

They acted as operator mechanics in a mock air defence exercise, using the ship's technology to hunt down, identify and destroy simulated missiles.

The students also used breathing apparatus and handled charged hoses in a fire fighting drill.

Cdr Keble said: "It is always a pleasure to return to the port where the ship was built and to renew our affiliation with our namesake town."

HMS Richmond provided gun support to the invasion of Iraq in March and helped protect coalition mine sweeping forces.

She came under fire from a land-launched Iraqi missile as she manoeuvred into position off the coast. The missile fell short.

The vessel, the last warship built at Swan Hunter, is the eighth to bear the name Richmond; the first was built in 1656. She returned to Portsmouth from the Gulf in July and left Newcastle on Wednesday to return south.

The ship, manned by a 176-strong crew, was granted the freedom of Richmond in 1996 and its company has visited the town on several occasions.