A family that opened its business the same year of the Queen’s coronation have decided it’s time to put their feet up.

The Cherry family will close Cherry’s furniture shop before Christmas after almost 60 years’ trading in Bicester’s Sheep Street.

Howard Cherry, 85, opened the store in 1953, a second shop for the family, who also ran Handy Stores at the time.

His parents William and Grace Cherry opened Handy Stores in 1927 and it traded successfully until 2001 when retirement forced its closure. The family still owns the building and leases it to Bicester Toys.

Howard Cherry still works in the furniture store every day alongside son Richard, 60, and daughter Philippa McDonald.

Richard Cherry said: “We opened in 1953 and have been part of Sheep Street for all those years.

“Dad comes down every day and is still very keen.

“But it was a family decision that we would retire. It’s something we’ve all anticipated for a while and the timing was right.

“We have not fixed a permanent closing date, but we expect to be closing just prior to Christmas and will be clearing stock.”

Over the past five decades the family has seen a lot of changes in Bicester.

Many of the smaller independent shops have been replaced by national chains, and the town centre has expanded.

Another major change was the pedestrianisation of Sheep Street. Howard Cherry still remembers seeing horses being tethered to metal poles in the street in his youth.

Richard Cherry said: “We have seen a lot of changes and obviously we have been through recessions before and struggled along.

“We are probably in a better position than a lot of other businesses as we own the freehold.

“We will miss it, especially my father.”

Howard Cherry said: “We have got some very happy memories.

“I will miss it tremendously, especially meeting all these people.”

He reckons the secret of sustaining a long-standing business is looking after your customers.

He said: “If you treat them nicely they always come back again.”

Mrs McDonald has worked in the shop since 1981, but started her retail career at Selfridges in Oxford Street.

Looking back to when she started working in the family shop, she said: “In those days you knew everyone in the street, the shops were all independently owned and we made life-long friends.”

The family is in the process of selling the building.

Last month, Chris and Maureen Bean closed ski equipment shop Beans, after 30 years’ trading in Sheep Street, after the pair also decided to retire.