FOLLOWING the success of last year s celebrations marking Ely s twinning with Ribe in Denmark, the city is now forging links with another European centre of culture. Visitors from Vercelli in Italy were in Ely last year following a trip to Cambridge when

FOLLOWING the success of last year's celebrations marking Ely's twinning with Ribe in Denmark, the city is now forging links with another European centre of culture.

Visitors from Vercelli in Italy were in Ely last year following a trip to Cambridge when they stopped in at the cathedral.

"They heard the choristers and they were very taken with the music," said Ely mayor Cllr John Ison.

"They then asked if the cities could forge links - Vercelli is a very musical place," he said.

Canon Peter Sills took over a letter of friendship from Cllr Ison and he visited the city last year, where he attended a concert.

"Their hospitality was just fantastic," he said.

Vercelli, capital of the Vercelli Province in the Piedmont region, is also known for its risotto rice and cooks from the city will visit Ely in September this year to demonstrate Italian cooking.