Abingdon's links with Kensington and Chelsea were reinforced on Sunday when the town's mayor took part in a parade and church service in the Royal Borough.

The mayor of Abingdon, Audrey Tamplin, accompanied the mayor of Kensington and Chelsea, Prof Sir Anthony Coates, along Kensington High Street to the church of St Mary Abbots for a special service.

Mrs Tamplin was accompanied by her escort, husband John Tamplin, the mace bearer Chris Wadsworth and assistant town clerk Hilary Kell.

The links between the two councils go back to the early 1100s, when the large Benedictine Abbey of Abingdon was an important power in the land. The Abbot Faritius gave medical help to Geoffrey de Vere, eldest son of Aubrey de Vere, who held the manor of Kensington.

Before his death Geoffrey granted the abbot his church and some land in Kensington, but the deeds were later lost. The abbot's ties with the London borough were also the reason for the name of the church at Kensington - St Mary Abbots, referring to the abbots of Abingdon.

The early connection between the two communities was revived with visits between the two mayors in the 1950s.