PETER Hughes joined the Royal Navy as soon as he left Ludlow School.

Thirty-eight years later a career that has taken him all over the world has ended but Peter will continue to work with the Navy with a private contractor.

Peter went into the Navy following in the footsteps of his father Charlie, aged 77, who was on HMS Ark Royal, during his national service.

He lives in Gosport in Hampshire with his family but returns home to Ludlow when he can.

Peter has served all over the globe but the nearest he came to a conflict situation was in a support role during the Falklands Conflict more than 30 years ago.

In recent years his work has involved providing training to other navies that have purchased weapons technology from the UK and this included a period based in Chile.

In 2006 Peter was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal to mark his 30 years in the Navy but he decided to continue for a further eight years retiring at the age of 55 as a warrant officer.