Banbury food van duo shut up shop after 42 years

Eileen Smart and Pam Sutton started Quik Snax in 1982

Two best friends who spent 42 years running a food van have bid farewell to their customers for the final time.

Eileen Smart, 77, and 82-year-old Pam Sutton, from Banbury, started Quik Snax in 1982, having first met in the mid-1960s.

The pair originally worked together at a solicitors' firm for 10 years, but decided on a career change after becoming mothers.

They ceased trading in late March to coincide with the end of the tax year.

The two best friends first met in 1965

Mrs Smart said: "We've had happy times and sad times with all our customers - and they've sort of grown up with us.

"We've seen them get promotions and get on in life, and then they come back to the estate."

Mrs Sutton, who is 82, said she had "loved every minute" of her time working on the van, and that it "wasn't like a job because everyone was so nice".

She said the only reason the pair had decided to retire was that their van "wouldn't have passed its MOT".

"We might have carried on otherwise," she added.

They received gifts from customers after announcing their decision to retire

The pair have operated out of three different vans across their decades of serving the people of Banbury.

Mrs Smart said: "We knew from about last November - the van broke down and had smoke coming out of it, and we got it repaired and [the mechanics] said it might just last you until the end of March - so we've just finished at the end of the tax year."

When asked what they would miss most about the business, both women said "the people and hearing all their stories".

During a conversation with BBC Radio Oxford, tributes from family members and customers were shared with them, making the pair both emotional.

Mrs Sutton said she would be spending her retirement caring for her husband, who suffers with dementia, while Mrs Smart said she would be using her new free time to travel with her family.

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