Kilmacolm villagers say they are 'determined' not to let Brexit affect their relationship with their sister village in France

Gerry Boyle is part of a local delegation who will fly out this weekend to meet their French friends in Mérignies - a small village close to Lille in the north-east of France which Kilmacolm is formally twinned with.

Mr Boyle, who is the chair of the Kilmacolm Mérignies Twinning Society, said they are determined not to let the UK's departure from the European Union get in the way of their close bond.

He said: "I think it's more important with the impact of Brexit to keep these links going.

"We are extremely determined to keep these links.

"We will not allow Brexit to get in the way of that special friendship we have between our two communities."

It has been four years since the two villages signed a formal twinning agreement after Laurent Kochanski, a resident of Mérignies, wrote to Kilmacolm Community Council with the proposal.

Since then the two villages have formed strong bonds, with Kilmacolm Golf Club also signing a special alliance with Mérignies Golf and Country Club.

Mr Boyle says he is looking forward to flying out to the region this weekend with other members of the twinning group and the golf club to further cement their close links.

He said: "It's the 10th anniversary of the Mérignies Golf and Country Club so it's a big event for them.

"On Friday there is also a big business conference over there, where there will be quite a lot of interesting speakers from the French business community.

"So it will be very interesting for us as there will be a lot of entrepreneurs there sharing their ideas about how they are doing business.

"It will be great to hear how they do things out there."

Looking to the future, Mr Boyle hopes that they can forge links between the respective schools.

He added: "We are hoping to build better links with the primary schools and I'm in discussions with the parents' association out there so we can build stronger links."