One of Kent’s oldest McDonald’s restaurants has celebrated its 40th birthday.

The Margate branch, which was the first of owner Paul Crocker’s 21 in the county, held a party for staff and customers to mark the milestone.

A black and white picture from 28 years ago has been found in the archives and shows Mr Crocker alongside family and friends when the high street restaurant became a franchise in 1995.

His daughter, Rachel, was also at the event, aged just four, and is now an area supervisor for the company.

Mr Crocker said: “I cannot believe Margate McDonald’s has been around for 40 years.

“It was lovely to celebrate with my team, especially with the long-standing crew members.

“I’d like to thank Iain, the business manager, Ellie, the assistant manager, and Lolly Knell for leading the organisation of this fantastic event.

“We look forward to continuing serving the community of Margate for many more years to come.”

Mayor of Margate Rob Yates joined the bash last Saturday, with guests enjoying a DJ, cake, raffle, and face-painting.

Paul Knell – the operations manager for Mr Crocker’s franchise empire – attended the opening of the Margate McDonald’s when he was just 12 years old.

He later went on to become the restaurant manager in 1995.

Dave Hewett also attended the event and was presented with a 40-year service award.

He joined the company as part of the opening team at Margate and was the DJ at the party last Saturday.