ONE OF the last traditional grocer's shops in Swindon is to close next month after 57 years.

And the owner of Workman's says his shop is the latest to fall in the face of the march of the hypermarkets.

Workman's was set up in June 1945 one of the dying months of World War Two by husband and wife team Jack and Eileen Workman.

Current owner Jeffrey Workman Jack's son will be 50 on April 27, the day the shop closes. He has worked there for 30 years and owned the shop for the last 23.

His main hope now is that Workman's Ham, a well-known delicacy, will live on if the recipe can be sold.

Mr Workman said: "These days, people just go to the supermarket and do all their shopping there, whatever the cost. I believe we are the last shop of this kind in Swindon.

"Part of our success has been our personal contact with our customers. We know most of them by their Christian names, and they are people, not numbers.

"They are welcomed whenever they come into the shop and our staff become friends. I would like

to thank all our customers, old and new, who have supported us over the years, and also my faithful staff, who have worked long hours."

Mr Workman also thanked his wife, Victoria, and seven-year-old daughter, Ella, for their support.

The shop employs 10 people, all part-time.

Mr Workman's father died in late 1999, but his name lives on in four executive-style apartments built on land to the rear of the building. They are called Jack Ashby Court Ashby was Mr Workman senior's middle name.

A planning application to build three more apartments on the site of the shop itself has been submitted to Swindon Council.

Mr Workman deeply regrets having to close after so many years, but he has seen shopping trends change and trade decline in the last two years. Where once the shop would sell 15 tonnes of potatoes a week, the figure is now less than a fifth of that.

But Mr Workman is anxious to preserve one aspect of his business Workman's Ham, which has a unique taste thanks to a secret recipe and which has been prepared on the premises for decades.

Mr Workman said he was willing to sell the equipment and the recipe if a suitable offer was made, and was ready to train the buyer in the secret technique.

It will be business as usual at the shop until closing day, but in the final days of trading, many of the fixtures and fittings will also be on offer. The shop can be contacted on Swindon 523466.