IN PICTURES: End of an era: Wolverhampton indoor market closes after 42 years

Queues at their counter on a Saturday were so long that they gave out cold drinks in the summer to keep customers cool while they waited to be served.

Eating habits have changed - and so has the indoor market, which closed its doors on Saturday for the last time to move outside.

Heantun House in Salop Street, its home for more than half a century, is to be demolished and, from tomorrow, traders will join the outdoor market as a temporary measure while longer-term plans to create a new venue as part of the Westside redevelopment are worked on.

Dud Malik, 63, said: "It's a sad day. We've had a lot of good times here but it's a tired old building and it's time to move on. The council have provided fully fitted huts for us, which we are very happy with, but it would be good to think we could move back one day into a new, modern indoor market."

The family business was started in 1971 by Mal Malik, 67, now retired, who was joined by younger brothers Dud and then Mike, 64.

After 42 years of selling chickens and eggs, Dud is now the longest serving indoor market trader in Wolverhampton but has no plans to hang up his red-striped butcher's apron any time soon.

He said: "We love it. Every day is different. You can chat and joke with customers - you don't get that in the supermarket. Out customers have been very loyal, some have been coming to us almost as long as we've been here.

"I think it keeps us healthy. Neither me nor my brother have ever had to go to the doctor's or taken a day off ill for over 40 years. We really love coming to work."

The stall, called The Farmhouse, has changed over the decades, he says. In the early 1970s when they started, customers bought their chickens whole, while nowadays they are mostly chopped up and sold as thighs, breasts and drumsticks.

And chicken was seen as a bit of a luxury. Mike tells a story about a fellow stall holder, the late Bill Wood. "He used to say that whenever they had chicken at home, his mother would scatter a few chicken bones by the garden gate so he neighbours would notice and be impressed," he laughed.

A significant amount of their poultry is sold spiced - with peri peri, lemon and pepper, tandoori, balti, Chinese and cajun ingredients.

"That's another difference," said Dud. "The younger customers want something they can just stick in the microwave without any further preparation. They don't have so much time to cook and they're not sure what to do when they have. Quite a few ask 'How do you cook it?'"

The brothers branched out to rear their own chickens at two farms - in Ivetsey Bank and Wheaton Aston - producing a million hens a year at each farm and also supplying other companies. They also have a shop in Codsall, which is run by Dud's son.

As chairman of Wolverhampton Market Traders Association, Dud met David Cameron when the Prime Minister faced questions from a panel of West Midland voters at the Express & Star's offices in Queen Street in 2010.

Regular customer Jill Brown, of Willenhall Road, Wolverhampton, has been buying her poultry and eggs from the Maliks for 35 years. She said: "I love markets. I don't like pre-packaged or frozen food.

"I like to know what I'm buying, and I wash the chicken with lemon juice and vinegar when I get home. It's a shame the indoor market is closing, there's not many places you can get fresh food now. I just hope they build another one."

The move will be officially marked on May 7 with a visit by the mayor.