They don’t build them like they used - that is the sentiment of a Suffolk man who has finally scrapped his trusty dishwasher 27 years after it was first installed.

He fears the replacement will fail to live up to his original, which was purchased when he moved to a new-build house in Finnigham back in 1988.

Alfred Hardwick said: “When built my house in 1988 I installed a NEFF dishwasher which with only one service in 27 years by the local service engineer in all that time has been totally reliable.

“But now I have reluctantly decided to replace it, as for some reason the glasses etc are becoming etched.

“The statistics for this machine are quite staggering for instance in 27 years it has performed 10,000 washes, consumed 18,000 KWH of electricty and 66,000 gallons of water and run for 12,000 hours.

“I have been informed that not to expect new machines to be as reliable.”

He added: “I would like to know if there is anyone out there who can match the performance of my old machine.”

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