SHE may just have turned 90 but supermarket till girl Gladys Smith has no intention of checking out from her beloved job just yet.

Clocking on for two shifts a week at Sainsbury’s in Hatch Warren, Gladys, of Rossini Close, Brighton Hill, Basingstoke, is believed to be the company’s most senior employee – and she is undoubtedly one of the oldest checkout assistants in the UK.

Gladys said: “I hope to work for longer because it keeps my mind going – working is good for you. The best thing about it is the customers. I have my regulars and they are lovely.”

Mrs Smith has worked for Sainsbury’s, in Wallop Drive, since it opened in 1988. She decided to go back to work aged 68 when most of her generation are looking forward to retirement.

“I needed the money to pay for Christmas presents and have been here ever since,” she said.

And the festive shopping bill has increased too, with her ever-growing family. She has two daughters, Joan, 63, and Maureen, 52, a son, Clive, 55, plus seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Born in Wandsworth, London, in 1920, she moved to Basingstoke 25 years ago with her husband, Will, who died 17 years ago.

In her long working career, she has also worked for an undertaker, a publisher and a trade union. And in more than 20 years of working on the tills, she has noticed a change in buying habits. She said: “People are buying different types of food. Chinese food sells like mad now, but there used to be a lot less of that. They are also buying more wine now, which used to be a luxury.”

To pay tribute to the much-loved nonagenarian, colleagues surprised her with a birthday cake and a bouquet of flowers last Friday.

Checkout team leader Niamh Fagan said: “Gladys is a people person and has all these regular customers who come and see her. You just would not think she was 90 because she is the life and soul of the party.”

Deputy store manager Andy Pugh said: “She is an institution. It is a massive achievement to be working at 90. She is our matriarch.”