Times have changed a little since she started working for Brancaster Parish Council on March 23, 1966, for £15 a year.

Mrs Lake, now 78, was honoured at a special tea party at the village hall.

'There are lots of thank-yous today - firstly to the parish council for putting up with me for 50 years,' she said.

'Working with so many councillors over the years has been a great experience.

'Parish councils are the first rung on the ladder of local government, who deserve your thanks for a thankless task.'

Mrs Lake, who has three children and two grandchildren, has also completed a half-century working on the accounts for JEC Powell Ltd, formerly an engineering works, now sold for development in the village..

She was presented with a picture of Brancaster Beach by Noel Linge, the longest-serving member of the parish council, who has been a member for more than 40 years.

Mr Linge said: 'You know the old saying, if you want something done, you go to the busiest person and that dcertainly applies to Janet over the last 50 years at least.'

As well as her work on the council, Mrs lake has served as a school governor, school dinner lady, helped found the village's 71 Club and worked for the Deepdale and Brancaster Housing Society..

Parish council chairman Jeremy Thompson said: 'She comes from a long line of family in Brancaster, they've been here since the Domesday Book.

'She's raised a family here, she and her husband Gordon, who passed away a few years ago, were pillars of village life.'

Mrs Lake was also honoured at a special mayoral reception in King's Lynn last week.

Colin Manning, Mayor of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, said: 'I find it incredible she's devoted 50 years to the same thing. If you do 30 years in the police, you should get a lifetime's award but to do 50 years is incredible.'

North West Norfolk MP Sir Henry Bellingham said: 'She's the most amazing person, there can't be anyone else in Norfolk who's served a parish for 50 years, it's the most extraordinary achievement.'