KEN Denton was a lucky man.

He rubbed shoulders with some of Britain’s biggest radio stars when they descended on Huddersfield back in the 1950s.

And he relived those memories this week, following the death of Coronation Street star Betty Driver.

Before taking to the cobbles of Weatherfield, Miss Driver was one of Britain’s best-loved music hall stars.

And as the Examiner revealed earlier this week, she delighted more than a thousand workers at the huge David Brown Tractors plant in Meltham in 1952, when she headlined the Workers Playtime show from the canteen.

Mr Denton, 82, of Holme, was editor of the David Brown in-house magazine and got to shadow the technical crew and the stars as they prepared for the broadcast.

It was on October 23 1952, that Miss Driver and the rest of the cast presented their radio show live from Meltham.

She was joined by Douglas Cardew Robinson, George Martin, The Petersen Brothers, musician Jimmy Leach and pianist Fred Harries.

The comedy and music programme was part of the national fabric, serving the British population from the Blitz to the Beatles and became one of the longest running radio shows in history.

Mr Denton said: “I produced the in-house journal for the whole of the David Brown group throughout the 1950s and was able to be there for the whole of the show.

“I watched all the hard work that went into all the preparations.

“I met all the cast although oddly enough, the one that I remember least was Betty Driver.