A Weston restaurant which has been serving customers for almost half a century closed this week, ready to make way for housing development at Dolphin Square.

The Oxford Corner restaurant, in Oxford Street, has been delighting diners for 46 years, but it will soon be demolished, leaving behind a ‘lifetime’ of memories.

The fish and chip shop has been sold to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), which oversees government housing projects and is responsible for the next phase of the Dolphin Square development.

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The HCA intends to raze the restaurant, but official plans are not due to be submitted until the end of the year.

The restaurant was opened in 1971 by George and Penny Kyriacou, who have made the building a business and a home, but they turned off its fryers for the last time yesterday (Sunday) before the keys are soon handed to the HCA.

Their son, Kerry, told the Mercury it will be a difficult to say goodbye.

He said: “To let go after all these years is going to be quite a wrench. We’ve really enjoyed our years here serving our many regular customers.

“My parents have traded from here since 1971. We’re a traditional business and we’ve seen a lot of change in Weston over the years.

“It’s going to be hard, we’ve all worked here including my sister and myself.

“We’ve all grown up here and lived upstairs for many years.

“It’s more than a business – it’s a home, it’s history and it’s a lifetime.”

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Mr Kyriacou believes it will be ‘difficult’ to see the building reduced to rubble, but his parents will now take a ‘well-earned rest’ before looking at other options to open elsewhere.

He also confirmed the family perusing a two-month extension from the HCA for the business to keep trading, but a deal is yet to be stuck.

Mr Kyriacou added: “We want to keep trading a little bit longer because we don’t want to let down our regular customers who have been coming for more that 30 years.

“We’re not the tidiest building in town, and there are plenty that are not – but it has character, it’s an art-deco building and it’s part of Weston’s past.”