Workers at an animal feed mill reminisced about its past as they celebrated its 50th year in operation.

Bury Mill - at Rougham Industrial Estate near Bury St Edmunds - was built in 1974 as part of a big development for Unilever, which owned BOCM Silcock.

BOCM and Paul's Agriculture of Ipswich merged in 1992 and the company became BOCM Pauls.

The anniversary cake (Image: ForFarmers) Twenty years later in 2012, BOCM Pauls was snapped up by Dutch firm ForFarmers, creating the largest animal feed company in Europe.

In 2017, the UK headquarters of ForFarmers moved from Ipswich to a site beside the mill.

Many ex-employees, merchants and hauliers gathered at the mill for the celebration - which included walking tours of the mill, a hog roast, raffle and band.

Operations manager Garry Goodchild said they had a "really great day".

“The mill is known by many people involved in the agricultural sector in the area of the country. For many farmers, they can’t remember a time without it being here,” he said.

The mill (Image: Google Maps) "We were very pleased with the how the day went. It was brilliant for old friends and colleagues to get together and reminisce about time spent at the mill over the years.

“Over time, operations have changed at the mill. When it first opened, they would have been dealing with a lot of bagged volume, but now we deal much more in bulk.

"There have been many ups and downs in the agricultural industry over the mill’s lifespan. It has seen BSE crisis and foot-and-mouth. During Covid, our drivers and mill staff continued to work as essential workers.”

(Image: ForFarmers)