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If Big Bertha was a human she would have a pension and a bus pass.

But Wales's oldest working fridge is not retiring any time soon from her home in the South Wales valleys.

Dating back to 1954, the English Electric fridge has been passed down the generations and from family to family since leaving the factory in Preston.

And now, standing the test of time, she is still "chuntering" away in Lisa and Hilmar Jay's outhouse in Ystrad Mynach.

Lisa, 47, said: "I think she could survive a nuclear holocaust with the lead she's probably got inside.

"I was speaking to someone in the office and he said English Electric also made airplanes which makes sense - no wonder they made things to last.

"In such a throw-away society we have something from 1954 and she's still quite efficient."

(Image: Mark Lewis) (Image: Mark Lewis)

The prized time piece was passed down to the family from Hilmar's parents.

They in turn had bought it second-hand from a woman in Blackburn as newlyweds in 1974.

Lisa, in Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, said: "My mother and father in law got her in about 1974 when they got back from Zambia and didn't have a fridge. My father-in-law trundles her across Blackburn in a little hand-held truck from an old house.

"When my in-laws were downsizing Bertha was going to be chucked out. My husband is not one to throw things away out so she went in the back of a Volkswagen Touran and came down the M6 to the house. She's been here since 2005.

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"We know he'll never chuck her out. I've asked my husband about what will happen and he says we'll store her when she dies."

The mother-of-one added: "Once I was on eBay and an advert came up for the Ideal Home Exhibition. It showed Bertha's model featured in 1954.

"I bought the advert and framed it and now it's on my wall. It shows a lady in the 1950s and it's telling men to make their wives happy and buy the fridge."

(Image: Mark Lewis)

Wedged between a tumble drier and work bench, Bertha now holds the responsibility of chilling the family's Strongbow and wine.

At a time when retro appliances are making a come-back, her owners are well-adapted to the quirks of their vintage fridge.

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Lisa said: "She's our drinks fridge now. Before it would take two days to defrost her - the little freezer part just turns into a big block of ice.

"She weighs a tonne - she looks quite big on the outside but she's quite little inside.

"She's never been serviced so she's a bit temperamental. She's limping along but how do you service a really ancient fridge? Nowadays they are not build to last this long."

(Image: Mark Lewis) (Image: Mark Lewis)

In 2013 Bertha hit the limelight when Caerphilly Council launched a competition to find the borough's oldest fridge - with the winner receiving a new, energy efficient, fridge-freezer.

However, despite being entered, Bertha found herself ineligible to win after her owners could not get to her serial number.

Lisa said: "I put Bertha on the website and it all went mad. My mother and father-in-law were speechless - they couldn't believe she had made it into the local newspapers.

"I'm quite glad she didn't win actually as the lady who did win gave her fridge to a museum in Tredegar. At least my fridge is being used.

"She's a bit of an icon. When someone asks where their drink is we'll just say 'it's in Bertha.'"