In more than three decades, chip shop owner Saad Sahib thinks he's served nearly half a million fish suppers.

It's no wonder he's decided to hang up his apron and retire from frying to concentrate on other business.

Nevertheless it was a difficult move to make for the 63-year-old who has become a staple of The Crescent in Carlisle where his shop, Home and Away, is based.

Mr Sahib, who owns three other shops in the street, said he knows exactly how many bricks there are on The Crescent and will miss the all the people who come with their stories.

In particular he has enjoyed the conversations he's had with trainspotters over the years and has learnt a lot about the railway.

"It's the people. Not just the people of Carlisle, but the customers who come from all over," Mr Sahib said.

"From Canada, America, the trainspotters, it's the people from Yorkshire and Staffordshire, you meet a variety of people.

"They've been excellent, with their communication, their stories, they bring their grandchildren with them on the trains," he said.

"It's never the same story it's always different people with different stories.

"That's what I most enjoyed, not just serving them."

And that's what Mr Sahib, of Dalston Road, Carlisle, said he will miss the most.

Rarely a day would go by when he wasn't at the shop.

He would serve on average 270 portions of fish and chips every week, which amounts to more than 14,000 portions a year, meaning he has sold about 450,000 fish suppers since he opened his first shop in 1985.

"It's shocking. Just imagine the hours I've put in," he said. "It's a long time 32 years.

"I'm always there. It's my life. Not the shop, it's the community. To me The Crescent, it's my life.

"The chip shop has been my joy to see friends and the local people passing."

Adrian Ball, who runs Base Express next door, is stepping into Saad's shoes.

While he's retiring from the shop, and has the tenants and maintenance of a string of properties in the city to keep him occupied, he admits it was a difficult decision.

"I just don't want to lose contact with people. The beautiful people, especially people of Carlisle," he said.

"I would like to thank all the customers for the last 32 years. It's been a pleasure. I've been glad to serve them and I love them all."

Born in Babylon in Iraq, Mr Sahid moved to the UK, aged 23, and started an engineering course at college in Workington, before moving to Derbyshire to complete his degree.

Living in Workington he met his wife Margaret, of Harrington, and the couple opened Samara's - named after their eldest daughter.

They ran the shop in King Street from 1985 to 1989, when Mr Sahid bought the former RAF career office building on The Crescent the same year his second daughter Shardia was born.

And it proved a popular spot with people stopping for lunch who had come from far and wide to visit the city.

They also took on the fast food chain Whimpy when it was based next door.

The whole family - Margaret and their children Samara, Shardia, Emira and Yousef - chipped in, taking their turn working in the shop, something that had it's ups and downs but was a testament to the business.

Saad said: "I want to thank my wife for the last 40 years. Bringing up four children at the same time as working in the shop, I don't know how she managed but she did manage. It must be the hardest job ever.

"Between my wife and the kids it's really been the success of the business."

While he was born in Iraq, Saad has lived most of his life in the UK and thinks of himself as British.

He said: "I don't like to say I'm a foreigner. I came 40 years ago and I feel I'm British.

"I would like to thank all the people of Carlisle who didn't discriminate against me.

"They treat me like one of them which is brilliant.

"I feel I've been adopted to the city and deep down I don't think I'm a foreigner."

He also thanked his all his staff - particularly those who have been long-standing - as well as Maria Lucietti, of Workington, Dennis Smith and Judy of Bar Solo, the Italian community of Carlisle and all his suppliers.

A Carlisle chippy is marking its reopening by donating money for every portion of chips it sells.

Fontanas Chip Shop, in London Road, has pledged to give £1.90 to Eden Valley Hospice for every portion of chips it sells on Wednesday when it opens after more than two weeks of closure.

The shop, which now boasts a new new range and counter along with an additional chip pan, has just undergone its third refit its its 32-year-history.

Eden Valley Hospice have been invited to officially open the shop.

"Hopefully we'll generate quite a lot of money," said owner David Foster. "We have a collection box in the shop permanently for Eden Valley Hospice.

"I think everybody can associate Eden Valley Hospice with somebody they know or somebody they used to know which is why we want to support them."

There will also be collection buckets in the shop.