AN OLD vehicle, originally bought as a milk van, has survived the breakers' yard and is still going strong as a brewery truck.

And one man who is delighted it is still on the road after 51 years, is former estate worker Roy Townsend.

He was reunited with the Ford E83W pickup truck, now used by the White Horse Brewery, in Stanford in the Vale, when, as a surprise, it turned up at the driveway of his home in High Street, Finstock.

The man responsible for bringing back happy memories for Mr Townsend was vehicle restorer Patrick Russell, of Witney Road, Ducklington.

He said: "Roy thought that it must at some time have been scrapped, but it had been spared the cutting torch.

"Not only that, it has recently been totally restored and is back on the road again."

The vintage vehicle dates back to 1957 when Mr Townsend worked for the Cornbury Park estate, near Charlbury, and he remembers it well.

It was bought to take the place of a horse and cart collecting churns from dairy farms on the estate and was in the proud care of driver Harold Oliver. Mr Russell, who has researched the truck's history, says: "He took his job very seriously and was not at all keen on anyone else driving it.

"But there were times when the forestry section needed transport to take equipment to sites, and Roy was the only one with a driving licence.

"Once, whilst using the truck, Roy caught the driver's step on a tree stump, putting a little dent in it and thus incurred the wrath of Harold's tongue."

The truck was replaced by a Land Rover in 1967.

Mr Townsend said: "It is just a shame that Harold Oliver is no longer with us.

"He would be tickled pink to see his beloved truck restored, and back on the road.

"After all, it is probably down to his caring for the vehicle so well that it survived."