More than 130 people turned up to meet old friends 20 years since they walked out of the school gates for the last time.

Pupils from the class of 1988 gathered at The Royal, in Main Road, Dovercourt, on Saturday night for their first reunion since leaving the Harwich School.

Suzanne Valentine, one of the organisers, said the evening was a complete success and enjoyed by all.

"It was absolutely fantastic - this is the first reunion we have had.

"It was as if we had never left in a way - a lot of people were still the same."

One ex-pupil was Adrian Mills, a former soldier, who lost his memory after a crash while he was serving in the Gulf.

In 2003 Mr Mills, now 36, was trapped inside an overturned truck, which left him with multiple injuries and amnesia.

He said: "I found it very hard at the start how people reacted to amnesia - it was my wife that persuaded me to go to the reunion.

"I enjoyed it. There were a lot of people there - I wanted to hear about what I used to be like and rebuild my past.

"It was interesting to hear about myself - everybody said I was a nice person and it was good to hear people say I hadn't changed. Some people had stories for me."

The reunion helped to raise £260 for Leukaemia Research, in honour of a former teacher at the Harwich School, Phil Cowley, who died of leukaemia.

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