A COMMUNITY hero honoured for his volunteer work told the Queen that she should consider taking selfies for charity on a visit to Buckingham Palace.

John Hanrahan, who leads a team at the Heatherlands Centre in Ferndown, was invited to the palace on Wednesday, May 20 in recognition of his years of hard work.

And the martial arts expert used the opportunity to have a chat with Her Majesty, whom he later described as "hilarious".

He said: "I was posted a letter inviting me to one of the garden parties, which was very nice.

"When I was there, I was approached and asked if I wanted to meet the Queen. Well, of course I did, so when she came out to say hello I got to have a chat with her."

The two participated in a brief conversation together, and John said: "She was so, so funny.

"We were just chatting away. At one point I looked at her and said, 'Do you know what a selfie is?' and she did. I said she could charge everyone £1 to have a selfie taken with her and donate the money to charity."

John said the Queen "just burst out laughing" at the suggestion - possibly because photography at the famous garden parties is strictly prohibited.

It was a proud week for the community centre manager as son Rob was also invited to an earlier party at the palace.

The Sensei has worked with young people from the estate as the lead instructor of the Ferndown Jitsu Club for 15 years.

"It was lovely because he was invited along to a garden party too," said John.

In 2013, Dorset's chief constable praised the team at the Heatherlands Centre for transforming the estate.

Debbie Simpson visited the area to meet some of the people behind the changes, including both John and Rob, community beat officer PC Julian Humphries and Sue Sutherland, who runs a voluntary club dedicated to helping families.

The estate was known as Tricketts Cross until recent years, but has now been renamed.