A mayor may be asked to open restaurants, unveil exhibitions and present awards but rarely do they get the chance to blow something up.

Charnwood's first citizen Roy Brown, however, attended an explosive civic event when invited to detonate 6,000 tonnes of high-powered charges at a quarry.

Mr Brown was asked to tour Lafarge's Mountsorrel Quarry and hit the button that blasted more than 26,000 tonnes of granite to bits.

He said: "It was a strange experience. They gave me a remote that looked like a Gameboy and I pressed the button.

"There was an almighty thump rather than a bang, then a huge cloud of dust and that was it. I quite enjoyed it."

The quarry carries out such blasting at 12.30pm each day.

Coun Brown, who used to sit on the quarry's liaison committee 12 years ago, was also taken down the two-mile long track leading to the bottom of the huge quarry pit by site manager Angus Shedden during the visit.

He added: "It was great to see how the quarry works these days. Things have moved on a lot in the last 12 years in terms of minimising the disturbance caused to people who live nearby. A quarry will never be a perfect neighbour but the company does work closely with locals."

The site is Europe's largest granite quarry site, producing some five million tonnes of the rock every year.

Lafarge spokesman April Leary said: "We were delighted to welcome the mayor and we are pleased he is interested in our operation."