Great grandfather refuses to quit his job - at 88 (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Great grandfather refuses to quit his job - at 88

GREAT grandfather Claude Bastian is a cut above the rest when it comes to dedication to his work.

For the tailor has refused to move to York to be with his new fiance because he can't bear to quit his job - at the age of 88.

Instead, his bride-to-be Betty Playforth is moving to the Cotswolds to live with her man.

And staff at Cirencester-based R Scott and Co say they are delighted he will continue to get the measure of their customers.

Owner Jim Balmer said: "He obviously loves the job and I love having him here.

"He's irreplaceable. You don't usually meet people with that sort of desire to work. He's a strong character - unique really."

Mr Bastian, who lives in Cirencester, trained as an apprentice tailor in his native Penzance

He also spent a time in the Army and met his first wife Anne - to whom he was married for 56 years - after he toppled off a lorry in Belfast.

She was the nurse who cared for him and he said: "She always used to joke that she got me off the back of a lorry."

The couple eventually moved to Gloucestershire, where he worked for Cavendish House in Cheltenham.

And it wasn't until he turned 65 - the usual age for male retirement in the UK - that he actually started working for Scott and Co.

Mr Bastian puts his staying power down to 'good diet, a drop of Scotch and a few beers.'

But he says his overall success is down to 'loyalty, determination and general service to the public.'

He said: "I've had about four jobs but I'm happier now than I have been all my life.

"It's the company and the people - there's something about the place. "I suppose I'll have to retire some day - but I don't know when that will be."

When not working, Mr Bastian is a keen bowler and has been a member of Cirencester Bowling Club for 48 years.

It was there he met his new bride-to-be and the couple are planning to tie the knot later this year.

He added: "We're supposed to be getting married on October 18 - if I can get the day off."