AFTER 30 years spent cleaning thousands of pint glasses, Elsie Casper has finally called time at the pub where she has worked since the days of platform shoes and bell bottoms.

But the 84-year-old York stalwart is not being allowed to retire quietly from her favourite drinking den by her regulars.

They will all be gathering tomorrow night at the Nag's Head, in Heworth, to toast her health and give her a royal send-off.

When Elsie first started working at the pub in the 1970s, staff had to wash every glass by hand. And while Elsie says she has probably cleared away thousands of empty vessels, the smashing of glass has been a rare sound while she has been on shift. "I went there when my husband, John, died to have something to do, and I made lots of friends," she said. "It keeps you going doesn't it? I did cleaning and some bar work.

"Then I had an accident and ended up clearing tables and washing glasses. I have been here for 30 years, and I've enjoyed every minute."

"I have probably cleared away several thousand glasses, but it's hard to say because it depends how many people are in. When I first started we had to wash them all by hand. I haven't smashed many and I never had to pay for the ones I broke."

During her time at the Nag's Head she has seen many young people come of age as they supped their first pint in the pub.

"I have seen young people come in who have then got married and come back, and then had children. I have worked with some great people - and some funny people as well," she said.

Elsie started when Barry Peacock ran the Nag's Head and has since worked with landlords including Barry Stickney, Ian Granger, Ron Hawkin and Derrick Grange.

"It is the company I will miss ,but I shall still go in to see them all," vowed Elsie, who was joined by the team from the Nag's Head for a "farewell dinner" in York.

Jim Melsom, who is the current landlord with Simon "George" Forman, paid tribute to "fantastic" Elsie.

"I worked here as a barman in 1975 and that was the first time I met Elsie.

"She was working here then, collecting glasses and serving drinks. I kept bobbing in over the years for a drink and always saw her.

"When I came back three-and-a-half years ago one of the first questions I asked was "Is Elsie still here"? She wasn't in the inventory but when someone has been in a building for 30 years she becomes part of the place! She is an absolute darling. She is still the same with the same nature and same bright outlook."

Customers can toast Elsie's retirement at the Nag's Head, from 8pm, tomorrow.

Updated: 10:20 Tuesday, November 23, 2004