ONE of Penarth's oldest family butchers is back in business after a power surge meant it was unable to use its front of shop window display fridge for more than three months.

David Lush Butchers, on Glebe Street, has had to wait for the specialist unit to be built and shipped out from Holland before it could be fitted in store.

The empty display unit had led some local residents to believe the butchers was closing down, but after a new one was installed earlier this week the family moved to reassure customers that they plan on serving Penarthians for generations to come.

“It happened so quickly,” said Marcus Lush, one of David’s two sons, both of whom work full time in the family business.

“There was no warning, all the power just went off and when it came back on we realised that the display cabinet wouldn’t come back on. To be honest, I think we were very lucky that the other fridges didn’t go, too.

“Just after it happened a representative from Western Power came round to see if anything had been damaged. He was really helpful and apologetic, but it’s taken weeks for them to sort out the insurance claim, and in all that time we haven’t been able to put a display in the window. "It’s certainly affected business; a lot of shoppers have been asking if we’re closing down.”

He added that it had been a stressful and frustrating time for the whole family and they were concerned about its impact on the business, as they had been unable the showcase much of their stock during the recent sunny weather when many people were firing up their barbeques.

Local author Cathy Farr, who has been a regular customer for many years, was worried at the sight of the empty and unlit fridge.

“It just looked so depressing,’ she said.

“I was really concerned because I thought that we were about to lose another one of our few remaining independent shops. They are what makes a town – gives it its own identity.’

But as of this Monday, June 30, with the new display unit installed and purring nicely, the butcher’s shop window is once again stacked with the fresh meats, homemade sausages and home cured bacon that David Lush Butchers are so well known for in the town.

David Lush Butchers are something of an institution in Penarth as one of the last remaining family owned, private businesses; originally trading from a much smaller shop opposite the library, David moved to the shop in Glebe Street almost thirty years ago and his two sons, Shaun and Marcus, joined the business after leaving school.