CHILDREN and staff at Greentrees have said goodbye to a man who has been a familiar face at the Salisbury primary school since it opened 12 years ago.

Chris Joseph, 68, started as school caretaker in August 2002, getting the building ready for the first pupils to arrive in September.

After spending most of his working life at the Test Pilot School at Boscombe Down he decided he was ready for a change of pace at the age of 56 and took the job at the school.

“It has been wonderful,” he said. “The teachers are all very pleasant and the children are marvellous.”

To say thank you for all Mr Joseph’s hard work, the pupils held a special assembly, with each class performing a piece they had prepared for him.

“It was wonderful,” he said.

“There was lots of singing and dancing. It was really quite emotional.”

Mr Joseph, who lives in Wellington Way, hopes to spend more time enjoying walking in beauty spots around the country with his wife Sue, 60, who works as a dinner lady at the city’s Woodlands Primary School.