Hampton registrar told 'you're too old' to perform wedding ceremonies (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Hampton registrar told 'you're too old' to perform wedding ceremonies

6:50am Thursday 9th September 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(8)

A registrar has been told he can no longer perform wedding ceremonies - because he is too old.

Graham Beresford turned 70 in January and just a few months later he was given six months' notice to leave his post as a deputy registrar.

Mr Beresford, of Albury Close, Hampton, appealed against the decision but was told last week he would have to go.

The registrar said he was “disappointed and surprised” at the decision.

He added: “[Richmond Council] says it has a flexible retirement policy but that doesn’t seem to apply at the upper end of the scale.”

Mr Beresford worked in the probation service for most of his life, retiring from a full-time position at the age of 57, although he still does some work for the service.

He said he took up a position as a deputy registrar in 1997 and specifically asked if there was a retirement policy and was told not.

Mr Beresford, who has been married for 42 years and has two daughters, said Richmond Council took over the management of registrars from about 2007. He said the authority accepted he was perfectly capable of carrying on but had decided it did not want him any more.

He added: “As far as I know, this is the first time that a sessional deputy registrar has been dismissed. [The] loss of my licence means I cannot practice again – even for special events such as friends and family who may request my services.

“I can produce plenty of recent evidence that couples I have married continue to enjoy my style of gravitas, humour and experience.

“In many professions, experience and knowledge are considered advantageous and not deemed to deteriorate markedly with age.

“An aura of maturity, wisdom and experience can be an advantage, particularly for anxious couples and their families - and presentation skills undoubtedly improve with practice.

“The council has told me reports about me have always been of a positive nature.”

Michelle Mitchell, director of Age UK, said to force people who wanted to work and pay taxes into retirement was a “nonsense” that made a mockery of Government plans to help people work longer.

She added: “Ministers are now consulting on scrapping the default retirement age from October 2011, but an end to this unfair legislation can’t come soon enough for those older workers who are at risk of being forced to retire in the next few months.”

A Richmond Council spokesman said the authority had a default retirement age of 70 and confirmed Mr Beresford’s request to continue was turned down.

He added: “Mr Beresford was a casual employee who provided a useful service to the borough for a number of years and we wish him well for his retirement.”