BONMARCHE’S cry of ‘Come on, Eileen’ was answered by a Trowbridge woman who helped the company celebrate its 30th birthday at The Shires branch on Saturday.

Eileen Vickers, 82, answered the call from the women’s clothing shop which wanted an 82-year-old woman called Eileen to take part in the birthday celebrations.

The reason for the unusual and specific search for its guest of honour was inspired by the Dexys Midnight Runners hit from 1982, Come on Eileen which was No 1 for several weeks when Bonmarche first started trading.

Mrs Vickers said: “My granddaughter Alexis saw the piece in the Wiltshire Times and said I should go for it, but I was a little unsure. Then I walked past the store a few days later and made an enquiry to see if they’d found someone and they hadn’t, so they asked if I would do it.

“I had a nice day at the party and it was quite a bizarre thing to do.”

Mrs Vickers was given a £30 voucher towards picking an outfit of her choice as reward for answering the store’s appeal.

Store manager Kelly Hawkins said: “We tried hard to find an Eileen, but struggled a bit.

“In the end we had five come forward, but Eileen Vickers was the only one who has reached the age of 82.

“The others have birthdays later in the year.”

Across the country, the retailer will be holding around 100 birthday parties at each of its stores with an 82-year-old Eileen being guest of honour at each of the celebrations.