SEVERAL employees, past and present, have contacted the Packet to recall with fondness their days at Marks & Spencer in Falmouth.

Corona Rowe, from Constantine, worked for them between 1976 and 1991 and "absolutely loved" her time there.

"They were a great company to work for. I started out doing some part time shifts for them and then they offered me a permanent position. It was fantastic, I loved every minute of it," she said.

Another employee Mark Pearce has supplied several photographs from the 1980s, which show not only groups of staff but also the interior of the store.

He worked in the Falmouth shop from 1986 to 1992, before transferring elsewhere and completing 26 years of service.

Nicki Bolitho, from Mylor Bridge, will bring the curtain down on a 35-year career in the Falmouth store when it closes on Saturday,

She said: "The customers are what we are going to miss. We have our regulars who come in on set days during the week for a coffee and a chat. Sadly they'll have to find somewhere else to go now."

Cicely Lloyd, who joined Marks and Spencer in 1945 at the age of 14, recalled working at the shop in the rationing days.

She said: "It wasn't long after the war so biscuits and things were in short supply. You'd get a queue from M&S down to Boots the chemist with people with their coupons."

Cicely enjoyed her nine years working behind the till, saying: "It was a wonderful place to work, everyone was happy. They looked after you, they really did.

"It's a shame they're closing. I still do shop there. Most of our clothes come from there, you can rely on it, it's really good stuff."

* The final part of our mini series will appear online at the same time tomorrow evening.