AS much of a landmark in York as the Minster or the city walls, Bettys tea rooms have been a fixture in the city for 75 years this year.

While staff have come and gone over time, Alan Stockdale has worked at the tea rooms in St Helen’s Square for 40 years.

After starting in the kitchens for ten years, then working behind the bar, Alan took on the role of maitre d’, to help greet and seat the hundreds of customers through Bettys doors each day, and has been a fixture in the role ever since.

Una Heron, manager of Bettys, said: “If people come and don’t see him, they ask about him.

“They get very concerned about whether he’s retired.

“He turned 65 in January and doesn’t work full-time any more, and I’ve had so many people approach me and said ‘Alan isn’t retiring, it he’? Since he went part-time, we’ve really realised how much he means to us.”

Alan said: “When I’m dealing with a customer, I’m dealing with them, not with a piece of paper, or a notebook, not putting them down as a number, but recognising them for who they are.

“Bettys isn’t just a building, it’s the family of staff too.

“The customers feel part of this extended family. Many of them are regulars, but the first-timers from thousands of miles away also start to feel part of the family and that’s part of the reason I’ve been there so long, being part of that family.”

Alan met his wife, Wendy, while working at Bettys, and the pair celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary next month, close to the date of Alan’s first shift, June 22.

Remembering that first day, Alan said: “I was thrown straight in at the deep end. I got lost in the building at least three times, but apart from that, it was almost like fitting into a glove.

“There’s quite a team of people other than myself. There are a lot of people who do what I do. I’ve just been doing it longer.”