A FRIDGE that belongs to a South Lakeland man is still keeping food fresh after 55 years.

Gordon Russell, 61, believes his ice box to be one of Britain’s oldest working fridges and has kept around 50,000 pints of milk chilled during its lifetime.

His family bought the shoulder-height light beige Frigidaire device, with a gold strip along the top, in the 1960s.

It has been in constant use since it was delivered to their home at Garnett Bridge, at Selside, near Kendal.

Mr Russell, who was only six when it arrived, said the smeg designed fridge had, over the years, gone out and now come back into fashion.

He said he could not remember how much his parents paid for the fridge but did not think it was much “The most amazing thing is I have never had to change the bulb,” he said. “It is used nearly every day and it's still going.

“I don't have anything else in the house that is really old but this is still going strong. It’s built to be a lot stronger than modern fridges which only last around ten years if you’re lucky.”

Mr Russell, who sells feed to farmers, said the fridge had seen a lot of milk go through it in its time. He also said he would like to pass the fridge down to his nephews and nieces once he had finished with it as he was sure it still had a lot of life left in it.

“One of my earliest memories of the fridge is getting my hand stuck in it when I was six,” said Mr Russell. “My hand was wet and it froze to the freezer part of it. My hand was in there about ten minutes before someone poured water over it.”

The national news recently reported that the oldest fridge in Britain belonged to Doris Stogdale, 89, of Oxford, who owns a 58-year-old machine. It has been in continuous use since 1952 and has never required any maintenance.

The piano teacher bought the General Electric fridge when she lived in what is now Malaysia with her family – and it has since followed them around the world.