Smiling nervously for the camera, a group of women are in the canteen on the opening day of Woolworths in a Black Country shopping centre.

Sporting shades at the launch on September 13 1974 is actor Peter Wyngarde famed for his TV portrayal of super sleuth Jason King. The black and white snap of staff in Woolies uniform was dusted off by one of the women in the photograph Betty White.

She is seated on Wyngarde’s right on what was her 42nd birthday.

Now aged 76, the Wordsley grandmother recalled her time at the store in Stourbridge Ryemarket, which has shut after the collapse of the company.

With a slight break in service, she worked for Woolies until redundancy in September 1986 on the closure of the fresh food section. Mrs White, of Kinver Street, thinks the rise of “mod cons” is to blame for the demise of the High Street name.

The move into selling a wider range of gadgets meant the store was in competition with other High Street names and lost touch with the traditional range of stock which attracted loyal customers, she said.

“I loved the traditional Woolworths and like others say all the mod cons brought Woolies down,” she said. “It was a good company to work for but I didn’t like it after the likes of fresh food went out.”

Wyngarde, now 75, appeared in the character of sleuth Jason King to mark the relocation of the store from the High Street to the Ryemarket.

Mrs White added: “I got a job on the old delicatessen section and did about a week on the High Street before moving to the Ryemarket on my birthday. I remember the visit of Jason King, but cannot say I was his fan or that I particularly saw it as a birthday treat.”

Mrs White remains friends with Ivy Guest, 82, of Kingswinford, a former staff supervisor who worked at Woolies , Brierley Hill, before moving to Stourbridge where she worked for 30 years before retirement in 1986