North Yorkshire garage owner marks 80th birthday at work

Mick Handy Motors in Leeming, near Bedale, has been operating for 30 years. Owner Mick Handy turns in every Monday to Friday from 7.30 to 5pm - and Saturday morning for people who need an MOT and cannot get into the garage during the week.

His garage at 8 Roman Road has been operating since the early 1990s  - and he even continued working full-time throughout the Covid pandemic.

Family members said: "He has been working as a mechanic since the late 1960s after finishing his service at RAF Leeming.

"He first worked at Oak Tree Garage, Gatenby, on the A1 and Leeming Bar Industrial Estate. Currently he spends most of his time MOT testing, performing on average five to seven MOTs a day.

"To continue as a tester he has to take an annual test with a pass mark of 80 per cent but generally gets over 95 per cent.

"In the 1970s when working for Don Rose at Oak Tree Garage, he would be the person you saw if you had a problem on the A1 between Dishforth and Scotch Corner roundabouts.

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"This work included pulling people from their cars, and we believe, he once attended Lord Ropner when he crashed one of his sports cars.

"We also remember that he and a policeman were carrying an injured truck driver from his cab when the police man fell and Mick held onto the driver while herniating himself, but did not drop the driver who had badly damaged legs. It was the 1970s and in those days the fire brigade only attended if the car was on fire."

A surprise party was held for Mr Handy in front of the garage to mark his 80th birthday.