The owner of an independent opticians has said it is "truly amazing" to be celebrating his shop's 35th anniversary.

Observatory the Opticians has been in Muswell Hill Broadway since its establishment in 1989 and held a celebration for customers on November 16.

Managing director Jonathan Foreman said: “Being an independent opticians that has been in business for this long is truly amazing and the team have an immense amount of pride in their workplace.

"Success has a lot to do with our team. Meeta has been with us for 31 years, Natalie for 22 years and Greg for 18 years. That’s quite remarkable.

“The anniversary event was a great opportunity for them to celebrate this achievement and all of the hard work that they have put in over the years.”

Jonathan, who now lives in Sussex, started Observatory the Opticians after qualifying as a dispensing optician in 1984 and worked in the Muswell Hill practice for many years.

Until 1985, opticians were not allowed to advertise or display any alternatives to NHS fames, but in 1986, the NHS stopped making glasses and created a voucher scheme.

Opening Observatory the Opticians three years later, Jonathan was able to introduce a range of frames not previously available in the UK.

The practice was also one of the first in England to introduce optical coherence tomography technology, which allows optometrists to gain a much more thorough understanding of the health of patients' eyes.

Since opening in Muswell Hill, the optician has opened branches in Suffolk and Essex, in Beccles and Southwold in 2007 and in 2008 in Sudbury, Halstead, Ipswich and Haverhill.

Jonathan added: “Seeing the practice grow and evolve over the past 35 years has been a really rewarding experience, especially as we get to see first hand the impact that high quality eyecare has upon our local communities.”