A PHARMACY worker is retiring after 45 years of service at the same store.

Susan Kirkman started work at Lander and Hunter chemist's, in Normanton Road, Derby, in 1967.

But now she is retiring because she needs two knee-replacement operations.

She said: "I have loved working at the chemist for all these years, it's the only job I've known.

"I worked at another chemist for three years before but I moved to Lander and Hunter because it was better money and we were saving to get married."

Mrs Kirkland married Terence, 64, a retired plumber, in 1970 and for a while the couple lived in the flat above the chemist's shop.

She said: "It was handy living there. The chemist was a big part of my live, but we needed more space.

"We've lived in Aston-on-Trent for about 30 years now."

The 62-year-old, who has worked part-time since the early 1990s, said the job had changed over the years.

"When I first started the job, all the labels had to be written out by hand and all the tablets had to be counted out and signed off.

"Nowadays everything is electronic and all the pills are in foil strips, like you are used to seeing.

"Everything has got easier but we have to be very careful now, there is more red tape than there used to be."

Mrs Kirkman, of Manor Farm Road, Aston-on-Trent, said that on her first day in the job she was not sure she was going to like it.

She said: "I was thrown in at the deep end and just started dispensing straight away without knowing the ropes of the new place.

"It was a bit nerve- wracking at first but look at me now, 45 years later, and I love it."

Mrs Kirkland said she enjoyed all parts of her job – dispensing prescriptions and working at the front of the shop.

She said: "I've got to know the regular customers over the years so I like to be out in the front of the store.

"Back in the old days I used to dress the windows and make it look inviting.

"The store's all changed now. We had a revamp when Mr Mistry took over."

Mrs Kirkland, who finishes at the shop today, said she would miss working and all the people she knows.

She said: "I work with lovely people and will miss them deeply because we are all so close knit. I'm sad to be leaving. I would have carried on until I was 65 if it wasn't for my knees.

"I think I'll be a bit lost without having something to come to every day but my husband is retired so we will do things like the gardening together and go out for lunch. We'll just enjoy ourselves."

Nairn Mistry, who has worked with Mrs Kirkland for 23 years, said: "A big thank-you from all of us here to Sue for her loyalty, hard work and dedication. She is going to be truly missed and will be hard to replace.

"Sue's an inspiration to all of us. We at Lander and Hunter wish her the best in her retirement."