Oxfordshire's oldest vicar was celebrating his birthday today - but despite turning 80, he plans to continue working for at least another year.

The Rev James Cocke will join members of the congregation and friends for a celebratory tea party at All Saints' Parish Hall, in Headington, Oxford, on Sunday.

The afternoon party will be followed by evensong at All Saints' Church, in Lime Walk, where he has worked for the past 49 years.

The Church of England has described his achievement of serving the same parish as amazing and said it was fantastic he had reached his 80th birthday.

As reported last month by the Oxford Mail, Mr Cocke is England's sixth-oldest paid vicar still working full-time - and the oldest in the Diocese of Oxford, which covers Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Now 80, he has made it his own personal mission to see in his 50th year in service at All Saints, and that means working until at least next February.

Normally, clergy are required to retire at the age of 70 - the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Richard Harries, is to stand down on his 70th birthday on June 2 - but Mr Cocke has been able to carry on because he has continued working at the same church.

He said: "If I had moved churches, I would have had to retire when I reached 70, but there have been lots of reasons why I've stayed."

Those reasons included the church's congregation and his family, wife Margaret, who has Alzheimer's disease and is being cared for at St Luke's Hospital, in Headington, and children Hilary, Hugh, Fiona and Elisabeth, who are all teachers.

But one of the main reasons was steering the development of the church.

All Saints was founded in 1910, but building work was halted with the outbreak of the First World War four years later.

When Mr Cocke took over as vicar in 1957, there was still much work to be done, but it now has a reputation as one of Oxford's best-kept churches.

Mr Cocke said two of his best achievements were moving a £50,000 organ to All Saints from SS Philip and James Church, in Woodstock Road, and the installation of three stained glass windows in 2000, as the church's Millennium Project, designed by artist John Hayward.

Mr Cocke also masterminded the building of the parish hall, which is used by a host of community groups, and a house next door for church staff.

He said: "I have seen lots of changes over the years and, when I think about, there's reason to be proud. It has taken a lot of hard work by all of us at the church."

All are welcome at the evensong service, which starts at 6pm.