A chance meeting on holiday led to a bus driver from Heysham laying a wreath at a famous war memorial on VE Day on behalf of the British people.
Steve Trainor said it was "the greatest honour of his life" to be asked to join a parade to the Menin Gate while on holiday in Belgium.
Steve, who works for local bus company Stagecoach and is a member of the Morecambe and Heysham British Legion, had visited the war graves at Ypres to lay his own wreaths on coronation weekend.
Then on Monday, the anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe in 1945, he chanced upon a VE Day parade marching through the streets.
"I was just wandering around and I had my British Legion T-shirt on," he said.
"They said they were doing a march, and I asked could I join in, and they saw my shirt and said they would be honoured.
"I was introduced to the Belgian President of the Royal British Legion, and he asked if I would lay a wreath on behalf of the people of the UK."
Steve accompanied the President as he laid a wreath in front of a solemn crowd of people at the Menin Gate on VE Day.
WATCH as Steve joins in the wreath-laying ceremony in Belgium
"It was the biggest thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life," he said.
"What an honour for a bus driver from Morecambe to do that.
"I was treated like royalty. They couldn't do enough for me. It was brilliant."
Steve had visited the war graves during the days previously to lay a wreath on behalf of the Morecambe and Heysham branch of the British Legion. He also laid a personal tribute to a soldier Emanuelle Armer who inspired him to begin raising money for good causes.
He organises the Morecambe and Heysham Poppy Appeal on behalf of the local British Legion each year, and also set up the Morecambe Poppyscatter initiative in 2013 where people bought poppy seeds and planted them to commemorate the centenary of World War One.
In 2022 Steve also organised the fundraising for a memorial bench in Happy Mount Park to two-year-old George Hinds from Heysham who was killed in a gas explosion at his home.
The Menin Gate (pictured below) is dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who died at Ypres during the First World War and whose graves are unknown. It is currently undergoing restoration works.
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