THE proud owners of the “oldest café in town” are celebrating 50 years of friendly service.

Terry and Margaret Hunt have kept Muppets, in Dovercourt High Street, running since 1966 – when Terry bought the old-style English café for £6,000.

Born and raised in the town, he purchased the already busy and flourishing business as a sideline to his regular job in the Merchant Navy.

The café, then called Arcadia Grill, gradually took up more and more of his life, and Terry, remembers a wealth of visitors from across the continent in the earlydays.

“I think we are the oldest existing café in the town–I can name every other café and outlet and I know that our place was actually a café for about four to five years before I bought it,” said 77-year-old Terry.

“It was absolutely rammed all of the time. We had visitors from all over Europe – our menu was in four different languages – English, Dutch, Swedish and German.

“The whole town used to be choc-a-block with tourists.

“We started off in the early days as more of a restaurant – and we were selling around 250 meals a day.”

Margaret was a frequent visitor to the café in the early days of Terry’s ownership, and he thinks this may not have just been down to the food and good service.

“She had moved down from Leicester and she started to come in the café regularly,” recalled Terry.

“I had said to people what an attractive girl she was and I have a feeling she fancied me as she kept coming in.”

Terry and Margaret married and the pair forged on with their café, transforming the business into a pizzeria in1990.

“We were the only one in the town at the time,” added Terry.

“It was then that we chose the name Muppets, because we wanted a name that is very easy to remember.”

After two years the business reverted to a typical English café, and Terry and Margaret don’t see an end in sight.

“I’m 77 now and we are semi-retired – we shut at 2pm, but it will always be somewhere to go,” said Terry.

“We have a lot of old friends, regulars and lovely staff who are like family.

“Of course, it is a very proud feeling to still be here and we’re still plodding on.”