Printing employee Eddie Bishop beat a life-threatening childhood illness to complete half a century of service for his firm.

Mr Bishop, 65, who worked in the dispatch department at Nuffield Press and was in charge of transporting printed materials to customers across the UK, retired last month.

As well as a commemorative watch, Mr Bishop, from Oxford, got an extra retirement gift — his wife Jane, 60, who worked at the firm for 30 years, retired at the same time.

Mrs Bishop worked in the bindery department.

Mr Bishop, from Blackbird Leys Road, Oxford, said he owed his life and his livelihood to Lord Nuffield, who started the city’s car industry.

He said: “When I was three I got polio and spent time in an iron lung, which Lord Nuffield sponsored at Abingdon isolation hospital.

“I was later treated at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre because I was left with very little mobility in my right arm.

“It’s quite likely I wouldn’t be here now without the treatment I received as a child.

“When I left Matthew Arnold School at 15, I got the job at Nuffield Press and started out riding a bike, delivering messages for staff at Morris Motors and Pressed Steel.

“When the firm was based at Cowley, I used to see Lord Nuffield walking through the plant and said ‘good morning’ to him on a few occasions.

“It’s fair to say he saved my life and then gave me a job for life.”

Mr and Mrs Bishop have three sons, Barry, 40, Anthony, 37, and Wayne, 32, and five grandchildren.

Mr Bishop added: “Retirement has been a long time coming and now we are going to enjoy it.

“I’ve been to Australia and America before, so now we are planning a trip to Canada or New Zealand.”

Managing director Peter Kennerley said: “It’s an amazing achievement to work for one firm for so long and it’s very difficult to replace people with that level of experience.

“Eddie had worked for the firm man and boy.

“His colleagues all bought him a gift and the company presented him with a commemorative watch.

“About eight years ago, another employee, Eric Owen completed 50 years’ service — it’s not something that happens too often.”

Another employee, Lucy Purvey, also retired about the same time as Mr and Mrs Bishop after 30 years.

Until 1994, Nuffield Press was based in Cowley.

The firm then switched to its current base at Nuffield Way in Abingdon. The company was started in 1925 by Lord Nuffield, and still produces work for the automotive industry, together with educational material including exam papers, periodicals, magazines and catalogues.