Last hole-in-the-wall oatcake shop in Stoke-on-Trent shuts
The last remaining hole-in-the-wall oatcake shop in Stoke-on-Trent has closed for the last time after more than a century of trading.
For generations, families queued up patiently in Waterloo Street, Hanley to order the pancake-like delicacies.
Staff at the family-run business have served them through the window of an end-of-terrace house.
Owners Glenn and Sue Fowler, said closing was unavoidable as it is earmarked for demolition.
More than 5,000 people signed a petition to save the oatcake shop after news of its planned demolition first emerged in 2008.
However, most of the old terraced houses surrounding the shop are either boarded up or have been knocked down as part of a major regeneration programme in the city.
Renew North Staffordshirebegan in 2004 with the aim of investing £2.3bn over 15 years to help the housing market in the area.
"The history of serving oatcakes through the window will never, ever come back," said Mrs Fowler, who has been running the shop with her husband since 1982.
"We did think of a rebuild, but... once the window shuts on Sunday, that'll be it."