THE secretary of the Swanley and District Chamber of Commerce is retiring next month. Brian Stacey will formally stand down at the chamber's AGM on April 8 after six years in the job.

Mr Stacey has marked his exit by announcing a £500 contribution from the chamber to the planting of ten trees in Swanley to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

He said: "We need to be extremely careful about money if we are to survive, even more so now that Sevenoaks District Council has withdrawn its annual grant. However, this cash is coming out of the remains of our Millennium Fund, so that local business will have contributed to a lasting memory of this Royal Year in Swanley."