A former employee returned to a Colchester factory floor - but wearing his chains of office rather than his overalls.
Colchester Mayor David Cannon took a job as a crane slinger at Paxman Diesels but stayed just three weeks.
He returned to the Port Lane firm - now called Alsthom Paxman Diesels - with his wife Nancy for a tour of the operation.
Mr Cannon heard how the firm was pinning its hopes on a new 18-cylinder diesel engine which had been conceived and developed at the site and would put the company ahead of its competitors.
The company has had a troubled year with 50 redundancies announced in May.
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