Grandfather's vintage bike good for 60 years

They don't make 'em like that any more – a school caretaker has revealed that he's ridden the same bike every day for nearly 60 years.

Owen Hook, 72, paid 36 monthly instalments of 10 shillings for the top-of-the-range Raleigh after buying it from a local department store in 1953.

He has ridden the bike every day since, either commuting to work or heading to the shops near his home in Haddenham, near Ely, Cambs.

The three-speed cycle, which was green but resprayed red in 1985, still has its original steel frame, wheels, seat, gear and brake cables, and mud guards.

And the grandfather-of-four still rides it half-a-mile twice a day to his current job as caretaker at Robert Arkenstall School in Haddenham.

He bought the bike after discovering his love for cycling while working as a grocery delivery boy after leaving school at 15.

Mr Hook said the bike was an example of British craftsmanship at its best.

He told the Telegraph: ''I used to go past the bike in the store window and for a long time I could only dream of buying it and I would stare at it for hours.

''When I left school and found a job I went straight down to the store and bought the bike with an agreement to pay for it in monthly instalments.

''I remember thinking it was an absolute beauty and I have used it nearly every day since and it has never let me down once.”