CIVIC leaders, normally separated by the English Channel, met at a Sidcup school to enjoy some entente cordiale.

The mayor of the small French town of Arleux-en-Gohelle, Norbert Grobelny, met Bexley’s deputy mayor Councillor Aileen Beckwith, at Merton Court School in Knoll Road, as part of the continuing relations between the school and the town.

The French mayor was accompanying Year 5 pupils and some of the staff from the town’s l'ecole maternell which has twinned with the Sidcup school.

Merton Court first forged a relationship with the French town in 1998 following the discovery of the body of its former pupil, Marcel Simon.

Marcel died aged just 18 on a First World War battlefield where his body lay undiscovered until 1998.

He was later buried with full military honours.

Now there are regular visits between the schools.

After a day sightseeing, the pupils, Monsieur Grobelny and staff Valerie Decroix, Marie Jacquot and Ludivine Leclercq enjoyed a barbecue at the school, where they met other Bexley councillors.

Christopher Price, from Merton Court, said: “We hope to develop proper exchange trips between the schools and bring the visits more into the Sidcup community.”