Allan Sperring, who started work for the Council on April 17th, 1972 aged just seventeen, is celebrating half a century of public service and is marking the milestone this week – at work.

The grandfather of eight still works at the Council’s Clutton Road depot where he started all those years ago.

He said: “I just love roads. When I drive on a road I can tell you how it was built and I can see where the original roads were. When I’m on holiday I pick up bits of grit to see what the road is made of. When we went to Los Angeles, it was like a white knuckle ride at Alton Towers – white concrete road, eight lanes with very big trucks – and then I thought: ‘I’m enjoying this!’”

Allan left school in 1970 when he was fifteen and began his first job collecting milk churns from local farms, but the work ended when milk tankers were introduced.

He had to look for another job and there were two options that appealed to him – one was driving big tractors for the Forestry Commission and the other was working for the Highways team at Somerset Council in Clutton.

Allan said: “I was really keen on tractors, so went to see the man about working for the Forestry Commission, but the guy didn’t turn up. Instead, I went to see Mr Bailey at the Clutton depot. Mr Bailey asked me: “How did you get here?” I said: “I cycled from Harptree to Clutton” and Mr Bailey said: “You’re fit enough – start Monday!

“When I joined the Council, North East Somerset was still part of the county of Somerset, so I worked for them from 1972 to 1974 and then I worked for Avon County Council from 1974 until it went to B&NES in 1996.”

Allan started ‘on the tools’, doing the digging work and worked at the Clutton depot for around 25 years before becoming a Highways Inspector in 1997.

Allan says that one of the best things about the job was meeting his wife, Amanda, when he was sent to do some training at Bath Tech in 1974 and she worked in Pensions. They’ve now been married for 45 years.

Allan feels that the best thing about the job has been the people he’s worked with and has stayed with the Council despite being offered other jobs. He said: “I stayed just because I loved my job, but now it’s more about the people I work with. Local authorities attract nice people to work for them. I love coming to work and I don’t want to retire – I just don’t want to overstay my welcome!”

Allan’s looks after the communal garden where he lives and future plans might include moving to a smaller house with a bigger garden, but he and Amanda don’t want to move too far away from their eight grandchildren. They might do some travelling – perhaps to visit family in Australia or friends in Canada – and Allan admits that one of the attractions of visiting foreign countries is looking at how they build their roads!

Councillor Manda Rigby, cabinet member for Transport, said: “Congratulations to Allan on his remarkable achievement. His love of roads and dedication to the council shines through and has no doubt inspired others over the past fifty years. On behalf of everyone at the council I want to say a big thank you to Allan for his hard work and continued service. We look forward to hearing what you decide to do next!”