A gallon of fuel for 23p - Brothers shut garage doors for final time after 50 years in family

And now more than five decades later, the garage has closed its doors for the final time after its owners retired.

The garage, in High Green, has been run by the Foster family since they bought the site in 1962.

Originally opened by Dennis Foster, it was later taken over by his sons Jeffrey and Christopher.

Jeffrey, aged 65, said: "We lived in Barr Beacon, my dad was milkman and he only worked from 6am to 12pm so the rest of the day he was free so he went to work in the afternoons for my uncle doing bodywork at a garage in Erdington.

"My uncle had a skiing accident and my dad took over the garage when he was unable to."

Seeing the business opportunity Dennis, who passed away seven years ago aged 71, decided to take on his own garage.

Jeffrey, a married father-of-two of Oaken Park in Codsall, said: "He realised he was earning quite a bit of money and thought he could do that.

"As a family, my mother, father, Christopher and sister Linda used to go out for a ride every Sunday looking for garages, we nearly ended up in Much Wenlock. One day when we got back we saw a for sale sign at this place."

When the family bought the garage in 1962 it had a house, as well as a radio, TV and record shop and a record booth - a glass cabinet with a record player where customers could listen to a record and decide whether to buy it.

"When we moved there were more horses than cars," said Jeffrey. "We sold more paraffin than petrol. We had a blue van which we used for deliveries to Bishops Wood, Coven, Wheaton Aston and Codsall delivering paraffin, which was four and a half pence a gallon."

Jeffrey and Christopher both studied motor mechanics at the old Cannock Mining College, but said there was no pressure to enter the family business.

"We weren't made to do it. I just liked tinkering with cars and we both got into it," said Jeffrey, who also served on the town fire service for 22 years."

Over the years the garage has changed, with the house demolished in around October 1960 and the family moved in to a flat about the garage.

"When we decided to go ahead and knock it down we had the garage built at the back which was the garden and as soon as we had the garage built, we knocked the front down and had the forecourt on it," he said.

It operated as a Shell garage for around 20 years, but they stopped selling petrol around eight years ago and have most recently dealt with car repairs and MOT work.

And over the years Jeffrey said the brothers had enjoyed a fantastic relationship with local customers.

He added that retiring was a 'peculiar' feeling for he and Christopher, aged 61, who is married with two children and lives in Princes Gardens in Codsall.

"Fifty three years being in the same place is pretty peculiar, he added. "At the moment I feel most peculiar because everyone is coming in saying goodbye, I'm quite emotional.

"We just cannot stress the importance of letting our customers know we will really miss then and how loyal they have been through the years. We have been really lucky.

"They are more like family than customers."