LUNCH times are going to be quiet affairs in future for Marlborough grandmother Mavis Breakspeare who has retired after 26 years in the St John's School kitchens.

In that time she has helped prepare hundreds of thousands of school dinners.

During her long service she has seen meals go up from five shillings (25p) a week to about £2 a day and change from the infamous stew and chocolate concrete of yesteryear to self service meals where pizza and sausage rolls are the favourite.

Mrs Breakspeare, who lives in St Margarets Mead, retired on Friday, two days after her 60th birthday, from the lower school in Chopping Knife Lane. She has spent her working life there, for the last nine years as the cook supervisor.

The school was the Marlborough Secondary Modern when she started and in recent years she has been serving the children of the pupils she cooked for in her early days.

Recently she was joined in the kitchen by her granddaughter Kate Perry, a former St John's student.

Last week Mrs Breakspeare was called before the school assembly where she was presented with a bouquet contributed to by pupils.

She said: "I had to hold back a tear when the time came to say goodbye."