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Just after the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day 30 years ago, history was made when one man called his father on a mobile phone for the first time.

Michael Harrison, son of Vodafone's first chairman, used a handset weighing just over 11lbs (5kg) to make the historic call, saying: 'Hi Dad, Mike here. I'm talking to you from Parliament Square, the very first call from a mobile phone, Happy New Year.'

Now, 30 years on, he has been pictured with the same phone, called the Transportable Vodafone VT1, in the same location.

Michael Harrison, son of Vodafone's first chairman, used a handset weighting just over 11lbs (5kg) to make the historic call, saying: 'Hi dad, Mike here. I'm talking to you from Parliament Square, the very first call from a mobile phone, Happy New Year.' He is pictured here 30 years after making the historic call

The original phone call by the 24-year-old trainee accountant to Sir Ernest Harrison, was made on the newly-launched Vodafone network on 1 January 1985, to test the system.

Michael Harrison secretly left his family's New Year's Eve party at their home in Surrey to surprise his father, calling him from London's Parliament Square.

He recalls that the line was crystal clear, although the excited shouting of New Year's Eve revellers in London created considerable background noise.

Michael Harrison told The Daily Mail: 'It was an exciting moment. Everybody was looking at this thing that I was holding in my hand.'

Michael Harrison secretly left his family's New Year's Eve party at their home in Surrey to surprise his father, calling him from London's Parliament Square. He recalls that the line was crystal clear. This photograph captures the moment

The phone call was made on the Vodafone Transportable Vodafone VT1,which weighs 11lbs (5kg) and VT1 was so large that Michael Harrison could only hold the receiver – the main bulk of the phone was on a table set up for him by technicians

When his father answered the call and Michael wished him Happy New Year, he remembers the noise of popping champagne corks to celebrate the culmination of three years of hard work since Racal's (the company that sparked Vodafone) bid was made to win the license in 1982.

'Dad was saying to everybody that this was a "massive moment". "You can say that you were present"' Michael Harrison said.

'He [Ernest] had waited a long time for this moment, the birth of mobile telephony in Britain.'

Days later, a large crowd gathered at St Katherine's Dock in London to watch comedian Ernie Wise make the first public mobile phone call.

The same 'transportable' device was carried to St Katherine's Dock in London in a 19th century mail coach, using one of the oldest forms of communications – sending a letter – to highlight the speed and convenience of these new mobile phones.

Mr Wise's call was received at the original Vodafone headquarters, where a handful of employees worked above an Indian restaurant in Newbury, Berkshire.

When his father, Sir Ernest Harrison answered the call (pictured) and Michael wished him Happy New Year, he remembers the noise of popping champagne corks to celebrate the culmination of three years of hard work since the bid was made to win the license in 1982

For the first nine days of 1985, Vodafone was the only company with a mobile network in the UK.

Despite being heavy and cumbersome, the first generation of mobile phones were sold in the UK from 1984 – before the first handsets and network were available.

They cost around £2,000 – equivalent to roughly £5,000 when taking the inflation rate in to account.

More than 2,000 orders for the phones were taken even before Michael Harrison made the first mobile call and by the end of 1985, over 12,000 devices had been sold.

The early mobile phones symbolised a revolution in communications and were instantly desired by the emerging 'yuppy' set, whose love for the brick-like devices was documented in films and TV shows, from Wall Street to Only Fools and Horses.

Ferrari-driving executives in the first wave of adverts particularly appealed to this market and declared: 'You can be in when you're out.'

Despite being heavy and cumbersome, the first generation of mobile phones were sold in the UK from 1984 – before the first handsets and network were available. This image shows one of the first mobile phones to be sold by Vodafone next to an iPhone 5, for a sense of scale

A large crowd gathered at St Katherine's Dock in London to watch comedian Ernie Wise (pictured right) make the first public mobile phone call. His call was call was received at the original Vodafone headquarters, where a handful of employees worked above an Indian restaurant in Newbury, Berkshire

The technology, which was available to a select few, now plays a central role in the lives of more than 400 million people on every continent.

Today there are more mobile phones than people in Britain, and handsets has also developed almost beyond recognition, offering maps and video services as well as touchscreens, for example.

A staggering 44 billion minutes of mobile calls were made in the three months to September – an average of seven minutes per phone per day.

It's a vision that Sir Ernest had conjured up almost forty years earlier.

Sir Ernest, who died in 2009 aged 82, was a legendary figure in British industry.

Born the son of a London docker, he trained as a chartered accountant and joined Racal, the electrical engineering company that became Vodafone.

The pivotal moment came in 1980, when Racal outbid GEC to buy the mobile technology and a plan was hatched for the first call to be made on one New Year's Day.

The men behind the network launch were Vodafone's five first employees – who became known internally as the Famous Five.

Among them was Mike Pinches, the company's first technical director.

When it launched, the network – which was only available inside parts of the M25 – had five base stations.

Michael Harrison said that his father believed that mobile phones would become cheap enough for everyone to own one. 'He talked about a time when everyone would have a mobile phone,' he said. This image shows people at a concert using their phones to take photos, demonstrating how far we have come in 30 years

The early mobile phones symbolised a revolution in communications and were instantly desired by the emerging 'yuppy' set, whose love for the brick-like devices was documented in films and TV shows, from Wall Street to Only Fools and Horses. The first product sold by Vodafone - the VM1 from 1985 is pictured

By the end of the first year, it had more than 100 and up to 12,000 customers using mobile phones.

When demonstrating the service to customers, Pinches was dogged by every salesman's perennial fear – that the network wouldn't work.

This was especially true when he was landed with the task of selling the first mobile to Prince Philip.

'He wanted one in his carriage,' Pinches explained.

'So we drove up there the day before, and went around the circle outside Buckingham Palace.

'As we started to make our way down the Mall, we pulled over to measure the signal strength when a couple of burly men whizzed up and jumped out and asked us fairly abruptly what we were doing.'

After some careful negotiating they managed to convince the guards that they were there to sell a phone to the Prince.

When the following day came, the technology – thankfully – worked perfectly. Mr Pinches says that Prince Philip was delighted with his latest gadget.

Michael Harrison said that his father believed the technology with time, would become cheap enough for everyone to own a mobile phone.

'He talked about a time when everyone would have a mobile phone.'

Three decades later, the vision from the pioneer of British mobile phones has come true.