Friends at the Heart of England Co-operative Society bid farewell to a long-serving member of staff who has retired after more than three decades.

Sue Saxon, who left the Earlsdon Foodcentre recently, saw her last day end a 33-year era.

Sue, a mother and grandmother, who lives in Stoke, Coventry was just 27 when she started with the Society.

In that time she has worked in a number of different branches in Coventry including King Edward Road, Walsgrave Road and Ansty Road. Her roles have included baking the bread every morning, working on the deli counter and the grocery department, serving from the cigarette kiosk and operating the checkouts.

Sue, who is aged 60, said: “There have been ups and downs here – I remember at one point when we were still serving from behind the counter everything was on rations in Britain and we had to ration bread and sugar. But it all added to the variety of the job.

“And I am going to miss the job and I will definitely miss the people – the staff and the customers.

“It becomes a way of life and the Heart of England Co-operative Society is like its own little community. The only thing I won’t miss about the job is having to get up at 5.30am every morning to bake the bread.”

Sue, who is a keen traveller and has been to many places, is planning to celebrate her retirement with a holiday in the Seychelles with her twin sister and other members of her family.

She also plans to travel to the Channel Islands to see her older sister and is hoping at some point to visit North America.