BELOVED fish and chip shop worker Dave Spratt, who has died aged 70, was a hard-working family man who will be sorely missed by family, friends and colleagues alike.

After 30 years behind the counter at the former Smith’s Traditional Fish and Chip Restaurant in Nelson Street, Stroud, the great grandfather died of cancer on Sunday, July 18.

His funeral at Holy Trinity Church in Stroud on Monday, August 2, is expected to be attended by scores of well wishers, including staff at The High Street Chippy where he returned to work for five years after taking retirement.

Mr Spratt and his wife Pauline, who worked alongside him at Smith’s for some 20 years, tied the knot at St Cyr’s Church, Stonehouse in 1961 after Pauline met Dave through working with his mother at Wycliffe College.

"He was always a very caring and generous man – he would do anything for anyone," said Pauline, of Chapel Street, Stroud, who had three daughters and two sons with Mr Spratt.

"Even after his retirement he soon felt that he could go back to work, which he did.

"We celebrated his 70th birthday in May and it would have been our 50 wedding anniversary next March." After 15 years working on the buses as a conductor and later taking an office job, Mr Spratt began work at Smith’s as a fledgling fryer in 1975 before later taking over as manager of the popular chippy.

His enthusiasm for the job and commitment to old-fashioned customer service never faltered as he served up portion after portion of the nation’s favourite supper on a daily basis with Pauline, who was later forced to leave due to health reasons.

Among his many thousands of satisfied customers throughout the years were famous faces Honor Blackman, Coronation Street star Colin Procktor and even His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent, who came in complaining about a parking ticket.

Despite announcing his retirement in 2005, he could not bear to put his feet up for more than a month before returning to his beloved profession at The High Street Chippy in Stroud, where he worked part time right up to his death.

Shop owner Nick Bell said he would be closing the takeaway during Mr Spratt’s funeral as a mark of respect.

"All the staff were deeply shocked to hear of his death," he said.

"He was like a father figure to a lot of them and I think he thought of us as his second family."

He added that Mr Spratt would always have the game show Deal or No Deal playing on the shop TV during his shifts and would moan under his breath when he saw anybody passing by with food from another takeaway.

"He was constantly worrying about the business and he always felt bad if he could not work because he had a cold.

"His closing line to every customer was ‘I hope you enjoy your food’ and he was very conscientiousness and always on time.

"He told me that he would go on working for as long as we wanted him, which was amazing for a man of his age."