A former parish council clerk who helped change Harpenden from a village to a town has passed away.

Bert Hammond died on July 12 after returning from a holiday in the south of France with his family.

The 87-year-old, originally from Trowbridge in Wiltshire, moved to Harpenden in 1955 where he lived with his wife Anna until her death in 2010.

He held the post of Harpenden town clerk for 10 years until 1993.

Former councillor Ned Nash, praised Mr Hammond’s achievements, one of which was helping to change Harpenden’s status from village to town which in turn led to the appointment of the town’s first Mayor, Cllr Dorothy Mills.

Mr Hammond’s daughter, Lynne Winter, said: “He always said how much he enjoyed the job and was very energetic in the role!”

She added that he was instrumental in pushing forward proposals for developing Park Hall as a new Council Office, which provided more suitable office space for the town council.

He was also actively involved with promoting Harpenden’s links with its twin town in Alzey, Germany, and was key to ensuring that during the redevelopment of the Lydekker Park Estate land was set aside for a park with public access and a car park with space for 90 cars.

Lynne added: “He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.”

Anita Pack worked with Bert as his deputy when he was town clerk, before taking over the role when he retired.

She said: “He was a very well respected man, he worked very hard for the council for 10 years. He achieved a lot throughout the time he was with them and was well thought of by councillors and the community.

“I got on extremely well with him, everybody did. He was a very kind, reliable and nice man.”