NEW signs highlighting Coleford’s twinning friendship with the French town of St Hilaire de Riez were unveiled last week.

Mayor of Coleford Cllr Nick Penny and the Deputy Mayor of St Hilaire, Sandrine Avrilla joined French visitors and locals for the unveiling on the road from Coalway.

Coleford hosted 27 visitors from the town in the Vendee region of western France.

Cllr Penny said: “This visit marks a significant step forward in what has already been a very successful first 14 months of twinning with Saint Hilaire de Riez.

“During the three day visit we had teachers meeting with local teachers and visiting our schools, sports club representatives meeting and showing off Coleford’s facilities and planning possible exchange visits for 2018, and members of both town councils discussing the differences in structure between the UK and France.

“The recently formed Coleford Petanque club also challenged our visitors to a match to contest the Malcolm Paterson Sports Award.”

Madame Avrilla said: “I am confident about the future of the twining between our towns and this last visit has tightened the links.

“We are now planning new projects between schools, sports clubs and community associations for 2018 and beyond”.

Anyone wishing to find out more about the twinning association or becoming a member should visit the website – www.colefordtwinning.org