THIS Bury Market business has been selling vinyl for 37 years — surely that’s some sort of record.

It was Simon Jones, a semi-professional footballer at the time, who started Save Records, and Maxine, the girl who lived next door to him, first became his Saturday girl... and later his wife.

The couple has since divorced but remain on good terms, and four and a half years ago, Maxine took over the sole running of Save Records in Bury.

In its heyday, the business — which was founded in 1968 — had branches in Oldham, Lincoln, Rochdale as well as Bury, and DJs as well as everybody else were big buyers of the vinyl records in stock. Later, CDs arrived and business still thrived, until these were starting to be replaced by digital downloads...

Happily, vinyl is now making a comeback, and Save Records is popular with young and old lovers of vinyl. Times have, of course, changed, and many youngsters now play the LPs and record them as MP3s, “complete with crackle”, according to Maxine...

She points out that Bury is now the last remaining branch of the original business, and the only independent record shop in the town.

“The revival of vinyl has saved me,” she said.

“As for the name ‘Save Records’, it was a reference to Simon saving goals as a goalkeeper, and to ‘collecting’ records, and ‘saving’ money.

“I think the whole package of vinyl appeals. It’s something you can hold, you can watch it go round, there’s the artwork on the sleeve, and the sound quality...

“My own first record was by The Beatles _ I used to play the Red Album and Please Please Me.

“It makes me smile to think I’m still selling those albums.”

Maxine _ who is 53 and whose mum worked at the shop for 15 years until she retired in 1998 _ sells from a large back catalogue of LPs, singles and 12inch on vinyl as well as CDs. There are also music and movie DVDs and even humble cassette tapes which are popular with young drivers who own older cars.

Save Records caters for a wide range of musical tastes, from the 1950s to today and from pop to punk and easy listening, metal, classical and jazz.

As for bestsellers _ Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, The Doors... their albums are bought by the generation who remembers these bands from first time round, as well as youngsters who have only just discovered them.

Maxine, who loves the camaraderie of the traders on the market, also buys unwanted vinyl and CDs in good condition. As she points out on the website, she is less interested in “those with so many scratches that they look like they’ve been used as frisbees by Freddy Krueger and Edward Scissorhands”.

“I love the variety of vinyl and the age spectrum it attracts, with lots of young people and those in their mid-40s and older going back to vinyl,” said Maxine.

“Everything has suddenly gone full circle.”

You can find Save Records online at www.saverecords.co.uk