A FORMER mayor and mayoress's daughter has uncovered long-lost mementoes of Weymouth and Portland's Coronation and Silver Jubilee celebrations.

June Powers, 62, from Kings Road, Radipole, was reminded of the royal occasions after finding the memorabilia in her mother's attic.

Now June, whose parents Charles and Millie Price were mayor and mayoress during the borough's Silver Jubilee events, has contacted the Echo in a bid to let readers see the images of the bygone days.

Among the treasured mementoes is a programme of the Queen's visit to Weymouth for the Coronation celebrations in 1953.

The programme features the young Queen on its cover and a print of her visit to the town with HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

Other long-lost items are photographs and programmes of the official opening of the Elizabethan Way for the Silver Jubilee and a tree planting at the Nothe Gardens by Charles and Millie.

The late father of June Powers was Mayor of Weymouth and Portland from 1977 to 1978 and with the support of Millie led street parties, fancy dress parades, and Jubilee opening ceremonies across the borough.

The couple also lit a Jubilee beacon on the island and planned celebrations running the length of the Esplanade.

After Charles's term as mayor he was awarded a Queen's Silver Jubilee medal for his services in local government.

Kind-hearted June, a widow, who runs a mobility club for the elderly, said she was surprised to find the memorabilia and paid tribute to her parents' work in time for the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

She added: "It seems hard to believe 25 years have passed since my parents led the Silver Jubilee celebrations during their mayoral year. 1977 was a great year for them both.

"Sadly, dad is no longer with us, but I wish both the Queen and my mother a long and happy life."

Charles, a Westham East Labour councillor, died in March 1997 but is remembered as one of the borough's most colourful and outspoken mayors.

The teetotaller, who lived in Abbotsbury Road, Weymouth, once slammed colleagues for presenting him with a bottle of whisky as a retirement gift.