Steve Singh has built up such a strong repartee with customers during 50 years of looking after Ford cars in Taunton that many of them drop by for nothing more than a cup of tea.

Now he's retiring the management at Taunton Ford arranged a suitable send-off and presented him with an engraved watch.

After starting straight from school as an apprentice at Ford dealers White Brothers in Eastreach, Taunton in 1964, he stayed with the brand and its successor dealerships in the town until putting his spanners away for the last time on Maundy Thursday.

His career progressed through the bodyshop and then back to Eastreach before taking him to the Rapid Fit centre in Cornish Way, where he worked until moving to the Taunton Ford main workshop at Priorswood last month.

“It’s rare to find such exemplary loyalty from an employee with regards to both the company he works for and the customers he serves although we are lucky to have a good number of long-serving employees across the Group,” said Kevin Graves, service director of Foray Motor Group, parent company of Taunton Ford.

“Steve’s success is down to his thorough knowledge of the product and his ability to connect with people.

“It would be impossible to work out how many Somerset motorists Steve has helped during his half century but there must be a considerable number who owe him an unknowing debt of gratitude for keeping them mobile. We will all miss his presence in the workshop.”