History is being made today as the vicar of All Saints, in Headington marks sixty years of service, extending his own record of becoming the longest serving Anglican vicar made six years ago.

Reverend James Cocke, 90, will mark the special anniversary with two services at Headington's All Saints' Church in Lime Walk.

However, despite the attention he is taking the events in his stride, calling the milestone 'a special occasion'.

Rev Cocke said: "One of the best traditions of Wells, Somerset, Theological College, where I was trained for the Sacred Ministry of the Church, was the cultivation of a willingness to pursue the job without drawing undue attention to self.

“It is my hope that the worship at the end of February will be offered for the glory of God and for the good of his people in our part of Oxford.

“Any good which I may have done during the last 60 years has been entirely due to the Grace of God and the generous help which I have received from so many for such a long time.”

At 8pm tonight at the church Right Reverend Martyn Percy, the dean of Christ Church Oxford, will preach at a sung Eucharist which will feature a number of guests and local dignitaries including Oxford East MP Andrew Smith.

There will also be a second service on Sunday when the church will host another special sung Eucharist at 10am, featuring attendees including Lord Williams of Oystermouth and the Lord Mayor of Oxford Mohammed Altaf-Khan.

The special 60 year service comes six years after he was officially named the longest serving Anglican vicar in the country.

Rev Cocke has worked for the church for 63 years, first becoming a deacon in 1952, and was ordained at Christ Church, Dorset the following year.

He joined the Headington parish as vicar in 1957 and took the longest serving title following the retirement of the Rev Trevor Thorpe in Essex.

On becoming the longest serving incumbent at the Church of England he said at the time that he originally thought it might just be a six-year stint.

He said: “The church is a vocation, not a job, and as such time is not important.

“If you’d said to me then that I would still be here aged 85, I would never have believed it.

“What I didn’t know back in 1957 was that this wasn’t simply a project that would last five or six years, but one which would last a lifetime.

“It has been an honour.”

The church will also be welcoming many relations and friends of the Vicar and former members of his congregation who now live outside Oxford for the special service tonight.