SCHOOL cook Faith Wheeler enjoyed the sweet taste of success when staff and children at a village school said thank you 45 years of wonderful food.

Mrs Wheeler, 72, has worked as a cook for St Barnabas Primary in Market Lavington since her own daughter Ginny was a little girl.

On Friday she was presented with cards and gifts to mark her long service but she has no intention yet of giving up her job.

She said: "I really enjoy it, especially chatting to all the youngsters. Some of them are the children of pupils who I served when I first started."

The great-grandmother who was widowed three years ago after 49 years of being married to husband George enjoys being part of school life. She said: "All the staff are lovely and very friendly. On Friday the presentation was a bit of a surprise but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The children sang and I was presented with lots of cards, flowers and little gifts."

She joined the school as a kitchen assistant and worked her way up the ranks to head cook. She said that when she first started the school kitchen it served about 250 meals every day to pupils and staff. Back then there was table service and no choice.

These days there is a self-service style and children have a choice of meat or vegetarian options plus salad and jacket potatoes. But old favourites such as roast and fish and chips are still a hit.

Mrs Wheeler said: "We have roasts at least once a week, sometimes twice and fish and chips on a Friday. The food is all cooked from scratch and there are healthy options. For puddings we still have old favourites such as apple crumble and chocolate sponge but we also have ice cream and fruit."

Since the death of her husband Mrs Wheeler does not bother about cooking so much at home. She said: "My husband loved my cooking but these days I do most of my cooking at school."

But she still enjoys other hobbies such as gardening and going on coach trips. She has lived in the village all of her life and enjoys being part of the community.

Headteacher Jill Hibbs said: "We are lucky to have a great cook who prepares cooked lunches on the premises every day. Faith gets to know all the children by name and learns their likes and dislikes."