A son of a Lancaster legend has thanked the people of the city as he reopened his dad's iconic burger van for the first time since he died.
Sean Flynn said the first day back for Burger Bill's van on Cheapside was a resounding success as he sold out of food in a matter of hours and received countless messages of support from customers.
Sean has reopened the city centre burger van to continue the legacy of his parents Bill and Michele Flynn, who both passed away over the past year. He is now running it with his fiancee Diana.
"It's been absolutely brilliant, the people of Lancaster are absolutely amazing and have really come out and shown their support on the first day back," he said, hours after reopening on Tuesday morning.
LISTEN to Sean Flynn talking about the return of the Burger Bill's van on Tuesday
"We've been absolutely packed out, we sold out early, the weather's been great, and it feels good to be back in our spot, seeing everybody and feeding everybody.
"Although I'm missing my mum and dad, they wanted me to carry it on. It's kind of like living their legacy on for them. It's emotional but I love Lancaster city. The best people in the world are from Lancaster."
William' Bill Flynn, who died on May 1 aged 65, ran his burger van in Lancaster for 35 years, starting on Horseshoe Corner from a small three-wheeled trike, before moving to the current spot on Cheapside near Church Street around 30 years ago. Sean has himself been working on the van for 25 years.
"It's all I've ever known and all my dad's ever known, is serving the public in Lancaster, and we love doing that," he said.
"I get a lot from it, seeing people happy and eating food that they enjoy. We tend to try to help as many people as we can do, we always have.
"The messages and hundreds of people, it's overwhelming. Everybody liked him. it's a difficult time but it's been made better by the people of Lancaster, by how nice they are with their condolences."
Bill's funeral cortege passed through the city centre on May 24, close to where his van has stood for many years, allowing friends and customers to pay their respects.
"There were hundreds here," said Sean.
"I was crying, it brought a tear to my eye. I expected a couple of people and the whole town came out. it was amazing.
"It was another reason why I wanted to come back here. I thought long and hard. The town wants us to come back here. We're part of the fixtures. Let's do it in their memory, hopefully for another 30 years and pass it on to our kids. That's the plan.
"I just want to say thank you to everybody in Lancaster.
"We will run it eactly the same as my mum and dad ran it. Everything's carrying on exactly the same. We'll be doing five or six days a week. If it's good weather we'll be here. We'll keep frying!"
Read more: Son to continue Lancaster legacy by reopening parents' iconic burger van - Beyond Radio
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