Sheep, swords and drunkenness: Whitnash man earns the perks of being a Freeman of the City

The historic title - its entitlements include being able to drive sheep across London Bridge, walk through the city with an unsheathed sword and immunity from arrest for drunkenness within the Square Mile - is normally conferred on statesmen and captains of industry.

David Mason, a consultant in local authority services, earned the honour while working for 18 months as director of people services at the City of London Corporation’s.

Mr Mason said the city, which has 350,000 people working there but only 11,000 residents, is like no other local authority. The number of people and the area it serves is so small he sometimes met the people his department helped in the supermarket.