VOLUNTEERS at a free repair service are celebrating after clocking up 1,000 free fixes.

Catherine Griffiths, 88, popped into Southampton Repair Café after her trimmer sparked and cut out.

By chance her repair job – she had nicked the cable – became the 1,000th repair carried out by the Freemantle cafe’s expert fixers.

Twenty minutes later widow Catherine’s trimmer was working again.

The service has become so popular volunteers are setting up a second cafe in St Denys.

But they need help to do it. Organisers are looking for volunteers repairers or anyone who can help out with the everyday running of the service.

Volunteer repairer Mark Hilliard said: “Catherine caught the cable while she was trimming, it’s easily done and it was a simple repair and I explained to Catherine how to protect the cable with a length of hosepipe to stop it happening again.”

Former music teacher Catherine, from Bassett, said: “What a wonderful service and it’s nice to know the café has helped so many people.”

The Repair Café is held on the first Saturday of every month at Freemantle United Reformed Church, from 10.30am to 1pm.

It was launched by local environmental campaigners Transition Southampton to encourage people to mend things rather than throw them away.

Volunteers repair bikes, computers, electrical and mechanical goods, clothing and jewellery – all free of charge. Customers can relax in the café – with homemade cake at just 50p a slice – and watch the repairers at work.

The most popular items brought to the café are electrical (45 per cent) and sewing (20 per cent) – with a success rate of up to 85 per cent.

When a repair cannot be done at the cafe customers are offered appropriate advice which may include scrapping the broken item, buying a part and coming back next time, or taking to a specialist repair shop.

Anyone interested in helping the service can go along to the cafe at Freemantle URC between or email repaircafe@transitionsouthampton.org.