A SUPERMARKET superman has officially retired at the age of 94 and had a retirement party thrown for him in his Gwent store.

Shopworker Reg Buttress first hung up his apron at the retirement age of 65 but lasted just six weeks away from his busy store in Cwmbran.

He is believed to be Britain's oldest shop worker greeting customers arriving at his Sainsbury's store in Llewellyn Rd after working since the age of 13.

The great-grandad has now finally decided to call it a day - but will miss chats with his regular customers.

The former miner, carworker and railman said: "I must admit I'm getting a bit slower and about a month ago I thought I'd better finish again.

"It's something I want to do all the time. I always like to be at work meeting people," he said.

"That's the main thing in life, meeting people."

Mr Buttress is a popular figure at the supermarket, where customers often stop to have a chat with him if they spot him in the aisles.

Many of them have known him since they were children since coming into the store with their parents.

He retired once in 1988 but it only lasted for six weeks when he got itchy feet and asked to come back and he has worked there ever since.

He has even outlasted his son Michael's working life after he retired from being a pharmacist in 2010.

Mr Buttress started working when he was 13 and has never stopped. He began underground as a collier's help, but was made redundant from that job in 1937.

He was advised by the Labour Exchange to travel to Birmingham for a job at Singer Cars, and from there went to motorcycle manufacturer BSA.

During the war he was bombed out and returned to Wales where he got a job on the railways.

He was passed to join the services by an Army Medical Board - but his boss persuaded the Army that he was needed for essential war work.

Mr Buttress went on to become an engine driver of the steam trains, then diesel trains in 1959.

The railway job lasted 25 years until he was made redundant in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s.

He then went to work at ICI where he trained colleagues on industrial machines until he was made redundant in 1979.

Mr Buttress spent two long years out of work before starting for Sainsbury's in 1981 at the tender age of 57 and has been there ever since.

His hard-working ethos has spread through the family – his grandson David Buttress is the CEO of successful restaurant website JustEat.

Mr Buttress has fond words for the people he meets at the store.

He said: "Wonderful, all the Valleys people, wonderful.

"I love my job, chatting and meeting people. It keeps me out of the house. Other people retire and give up work and they stay at home watching television. I like to get out and enjoy life."

And so well-loved is he that he's even had proposals of marriage since his own wife sadly passed away six years ago.

In his spare time Mr Buttress refereed rugby matches for 35 years.

He is also known for dressing up in store - collecting for charity, for Halloween, dressed anything from a giant daffodil to a devil.

Even though he is now officially retired, Mr Buttress will still keep busy gardening and looking after his chickens.

And being retired won't stop him coming into the store – he says he will carry on coming in every day to do his shopping.

A Sainsbury's spokesman said: "Reg is a brilliant colleague whose wonderful personality and energy is an inspiration to us all.

"Our customers love seeing and chatting to him in the store and we are extremely grateful to him for his hard work, dedication and commitment to Sainsbury's over the 35 years."