No more 5am starts for us!

NEWSAGENTS Mel and Shirley Travis are looking forward to their first proper holiday for 20 years when they shut up shop for the final time tomorrow.

They will also be putting their feet up and enjoying a long lie-in after nearly two decades of 5am starts and 7pm finishes at their business in Turf Lane, Chadderton.

The couple, both 67, opened M&S Travis in July, 1991, after illness forced Mel to give up work as a heavy goods driver.

Shirley had previously worked in a newsagents and had run a plumbing shop.

She said: “The last few years we have got very tired because we work from five in the morning to seven in the evening and do not close for lunch.

“We haven’t had a proper holiday together for 20 years. The pair will continue to live at the premises which has been a newsagents for about 50 years, possibly making it one of Chadderton’s oldest.

They will celebrate their retirement by putting their feet up for a few days, but vow that they will then have plenty to keep them busy — including some much-needed holidays.

First up is a break with two of their grandchildren in the Lakes, followed by a trip to Scotland and a Baltic cruise.

Shirley added: “A lot of the customers are like friends now and they are upset we are going. One of the former owners is a customer.

“I can’t get my head round that fact that we are not going to open again, but it will be nice not having to get up at 5am on Sunday morning!”