'It's blown me away' - Photos show queue at popular West Sussex village bakery as owner retires after 45 years

The Merry Miller bakery served customers on Findon Road for the final time on Saturday (October 18).

Owner Roy Luxford shared a farewell message with customers, on social media, earlier this month.

This read: “After 45 wonderful years of The Merry Miller it's time for me to retire.

"Thank you all for your loyalty and custom over the years. Our final day is Saturday 18th October. We're anticipating a busy final few days, and to avoid disappointing any of our customers we'd suggest placing any orders in advance.”

What Roy didn’t anticipate was the overwhelming response that followed.

“I can't believe the outpouring of love,” Roy said.

“It's unbelievable. There's a queue outside the door and down the road – it's just amazing.”

Despite decades of hard work, Roy and his wife Coleen have always remained humble.

“We’re just bakers that never boasted about being good or anything,” he said. “But it proves that we must have been quite good.”

Roy, who is approaching his 74th birthday, said it was the right time to retire and ‘spend some time with the wife’, with a holiday in the works. He said he was reminded of the fragility of life, after losing three people close to him within six weeks.

It was a bittersweet decision to retire.

“I just had to make a decision to make the staff redundant, put a final date on it,” he said.

“And at the moment, I still don't know what's happening [with the property]. Everyone's hoping it'll stay a bakers but honestly, today, I don't know.”

Known not only for their bread but also for their distinctive sweet treats, Roy's pride in his craft was clear.

“I specialise in the confectionery,” he said. “So I always get excited with Christmas, Halloween, doing the novelty work that a lot of other people don't do. We're an old-fashioned bakers – that’s how I’d describe us.

“We’ve been working hard at it. We’ve had two bread bakers working their socks off [with increased demand after the closure announcement].

“I'm still baking savoury things and other bits and pieces. It's been really busy.”

As the doors of The Merry Miller close for the final time, Roy has been overwhelmed by the community’s reaction.

“I'm absolutely amazed with the support,” he said.

"Honestly, it's blown me away. It's brought me to tears almost. I just can't believe that everyone's been so kind. So I'd like to thank them for their support.”