JEAN Ashton, who has died aged 86, ran chip shops across Oxfordshire, becoming a familiar face for generations of residents.

Mrs Ashton lived in Witney, Carterton and Chipping Norton, but will be best remembered as one half of W & J Ashton’s chip shop on Kidlington High Street.

She owned the shop with her husband Bill and the pair were a constant in the community for two decades.

Jean Robinson was born on April 29, 1932 in Barnsley, Yorkshire.

She was an only child to Jim and Annie Robinson and spent her childhood years in the area, working in a drapers shop as a teenager.

Jean was always adventurous and in her early twenties she hitch-hiked to Paris with a friend.

They enjoyed it so much that they repeated the feat the following year, travelling to San Sebastian, in Spain.

Shortly after, she met Bill Ashton and the pair married in 1956.

The newlyweds owned a greengrocers and their first chip shop in Yorkshire, before moving to Witney in the early 1960s.

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They managed one of the town centre chip shops for the Del Rivo family, who owned several fast food restaurants across West Oxfordshire.

Mr and Mrs Ashton managed another chip shop on the Smiths Estate, near Church Green, before briefly managing another restaurant in Carterton in the mid-1960s.

In 1968, they moved to Kidlington to open their own restaurant, with W & J Ashton's quickly gaining a reputation as the 'best in town'.

They ran the business for 20 years, before retiring in 1988.

Mr and Mrs Ashton had a lifelong passion for boats, buying their first in the mid-60s, and for years had a vessel moored at Iffley Lock.

After a brief spell back in Yorkshire, they moved down to Poole, in Dorset, and indulged their passion for boats.

Mrs Ashton loved travelling, but she and her husband eventually settled in West Oxfordshire, moving to Chipping Norton in 1997.

The pair were incredibly close, but after her husband died in 2007 Mrs Ashton threw herself into the community.

She was well-known around the town and remained active until her final days, still driving just a couple of months before her death.

After Christmas, Mrs Ashton suffered a brain bleed and spent nine days in hospital before she passed away on Sunday, January 6.

She is survived by her daughter Susan. Her funeral is at 2pm today at Banbury Crematorium and all are welcome, with donations to Thames Valley Air Ambulance.