The Thomas Paine Hotel in Thetford names room after former mayor, Colin Armes, who had the community at his heart

A Thetford hotel has completed a project, three years in the making, by naming one of its conference rooms in tribute to a man who gave so much to his town.

The Thomas Paine Hotel, in Whitehart Street, has honoured former mayor Colin Armes by naming one of its specialist rooms after him.

Colin, who first became part of Thetford Town Council in 1979 and was a former chairman of Breckland Council as well as a Norfolk County councillor, died at the age of 90 at his home on December 7, 2020.

Gez Chetal, owner of the hotel, said: “It is great to finally be able to honour Colin in this way, he was a great ambassador for the town, being involved in so much to make Thetford a better place.

“We initially planned to do this in 2021, but with the pandemic and other things, it has taken us this long. It is so great to finally get this sorted for Colin.”

His wife of 62 years and former town mayor and councillor herself, Sylvia, was brought to the hotel under the assumption that she was to be a part of a photo shoot of former mayors.

But when the room was finally revealed to her as a surprise, with friends and family there too, she became emotional.

“Even though it will be four years in December since Colin passed away, it is so lovely that people in the town still recognise the work and effort he put in to putting Thetford on the map,” said Sylvia.

Colin, who was a direct descendant of 16th century Norfolk rebellion leader Robert Kett, contributed so much to Thetford.

This included getting The Gentle Bridge built at Nun’s Bridges, turning the Shambles in the town's market square into shops, creating the scouts centre at Two Mile Bottom, being a founding member of Thetford Music Project, raising funds to build Thetford Swimming Pool and even opened The Thomas Paine Hotel in 1979.

“He was a Thetford boy, who was born in Earl Street in 1930 and only left the town to do his National Service. His ambition was always to serve this place and he did it as best he could,” added Sylvia.

“I feel honoured that he helped with so many things to make Thetford a better place and has really left his mark on the town.”