Board of Deputies president Jonathan Arkush has been made an honorary president of Grimsby’s Sir Moses Montefiore Memorial Synagogue, recognising an outstanding contribution.

Continuing a link of more than 40 years, Mr Arkush travelled to the Lincolnshire town to conduct Yom Kippur services. He was presented with a certificate of appreciation by shul president Leo Solomon.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Arkush recalled that at the outset of his association with Grimsby, the shul had 120 members and leaders were predicting its demise. Although now down to around a quarter of that size, it had outlasted communities such as Sunderland. Three couples had joined recently.

The Grimsby synagogue experience was “quiet, informal and, frankly, meaningful”, he added.