The King completed his helicopter pilot training at the base in Lympstone 50 years ago.

The groups say they are proud, astonished and thrilled to receive royal recognition.

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Volunteers at the station were awarded a Kings Coronation Medal for five years of service.

The monarch smiled as the group of youngsters sang to him with their teachers during a visit for a food poverty project.

The award is the highest given to volunteer groups across the UK.

The King is spending his 76th birthday opening new hubs to redistribute food which would otherwise be thrown away.

Ripon Community Poppy Project celebrate receiving the King’s Award for Voluntary Service.