The borough has links with Kapelle in Holland and Sochaczew in Poland but concerns were raised that interest in twinning has waned in recent years, prompting last night's meeting to discuss the way forward.

Civic links with Sochaczew remain strong and there have also been exchange visits by schools, community groups, sports clubs and the police and fire service.

Further exchange visits are planned for later this year including the possible visit of two or three Polish police officers to Melton in November, to co-incide with Remembrance Day. This follows a successful four-day visit to Sochaczew by local police officers.

But links with Kapelle, which go back to 1971 and which were formalised 1983, have all but ceased largely because the main participants in Holland have died.

Now a number of fresh ideas have been put forward to strengthen existing twinning links and possibly forge some exciting new ones with other towns.

Among the suggestions for possible new twin towns were Arnhem in Holland, where many Melton soldiers fought in World War II, and Rocquefort in France, focusing on food links.

Here Melton Times reporter Christian March reports on how the future may look for twinning in Melton.