Long-serving staff at Centre Parcs Longleat Forest have recalled the opening of the village 20 years ago this week.

It was the third Center Parcs village built in the UK and opened on July 14 1994.

Helen Warley, 55, Jackie Rosier, 59, and Nick Holton, 44, were among the staff recruited to ensure its opening day was a success and they have been with the company ever since – three of 32 staff who have been with the company since the beginning.

Helen Warley, the nursing sister in the medical centre, comes from Gillingham. She was recruited after a career in the Royal Air Force.

She said: “When I came along for the interview the parc was still under construction and I arrived for the interview in a hard hat and wellies, which was fun.

“The highlight of my time here was 15 years ago – I was the nurse present when the only baby to be born at Centre Parcs arrived.

“The mother, who was not due to give birth for seven weeks, was having a tummy ache but seven minutes after I arrived a beautiful baby girl was born.”

Mother-of-two Jackie Rosier, from Wingfield Road in Trowbridge, worked in the HR department before the village’s openinghaving previously worked at Peter Black’s cosmetic manufacturer in Trowbridge.

She said: “At the beginning there was mud and builders everywhere, but now it is a really lovely place. It has the feel of a real village, but it constantly changes and develops to meet people’s expectations.”

Initially she dealt with application forms from people who wanted to work there, remembering: “There were hundreds of forms and we had to plough through and there were so many that someone from the job centre had to help.”

Father-of-four Nick Holton, from Westbury, has had a number of jobs at the village, from working in the restaurant to security.

He has worked his way up the organisation and is now head of the IT department He said: “When I first arrived my first recollection is of how much work still needed to be done. Now I’m struck by how well established the village is.”