A VISIT to Dulcies sweet shop in Woodstock’s High Street is like stepping back in time.

Children climb an old pair of steps to pick out their 1p and 2p sweets with a pair of tongs, while quarter-pounds of gobstoppers, liquorice comfits and sherbet lemons are weighed out on a 50-year-old set of scales.

Identically-dressed sisters Ann Grant, 61, and Dulcie Smith, 57, do have a few basic ground rules.

Youngsters will only get served if they add up the price of their sweets themselves and remember to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.

And if mum says you can’t have bubblegum, then you won’t be served it.

But the sisters’ magical world will disappear forever next month, when the pair retire after 37 years.

Dulcies – the name never included an apostrophe because the enamel lettering would have cost an extra £5 – opened on September 23, 1974, when the sisters left their jobs at Woodstock Post Office to go it alone.

Crammed with sweets and chocolates, the shop’s fans include Prime Minister and Witney MP David Cameron, comedian Billy Connolly, PR guru Matthew Freud, and even United States senator Lindsay Graham – who was recommended to visit by Mr Cameron.

Mrs Grant said: “We have cut down our hours, but we are still working 48 hours a week, and now we really feel we have done our bit.

“We just want to thank all our customers for their loyalty over many years, as without them we would not have been successful.”

So popular is the shop that customers have tried to persuade the pair to stay, offering to pay their rent, but the sisters are adamant it is time to move on.

Miss Smith, who still lives in the house they grew up in, said: “What will be missed is that we teach the children to add up, and we always make sure they say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.

“We have heard of one child who got in the car and asked to go to the shop where the people don’t like naughty children.

“Another little boy, when his sister was misbehaving, told his mum to take her to Dulcies because they would sort her out.”

Over the years, the pair have raised thousands of pounds for the John Radcliffe Hospital’s heart unit by creating magical window displays and dressing in short skirts and fancy dress for the annual Woodstock Carnival.

Mr Cameron told the Oxford Mail: “I have always enjoyed visiting Dulcies, often with the children, for its old-fashioned charm and cheerful service. I will certainly miss it, but I do wish Ann and Dulcie a very happy and well-deserved retirement.”

And the sisters’ secret?

“We are the perfect people to run the shop, because we do not eat our profits,” Mrs Grant said.

“Neither of us has ever had a sweet tooth, and that is the reason neither of us has ever put on any weight.”