'I won round racist customers and became a legend'

The owner of an Indian restaurant has been preparing to celebrate 50 years in business but says it was a tough road to reach the milestone amid early racism - for which some abusive customers have since apologised.

George Miah came to the UK in 1968 from what is now Bangladesh. He was just 12 years old when he arrived on his own, and lived with his uncle in Telford.

In the 1960s, the government invited people from Commonwealth countries to come to Britain to plug labour gaps but they were not always welcomed.

"There was a lot of prejudice," Miah said. "When you were walking in town, you'd be getting names called." But half a century later, he said he had become a local legend to some people.

His journey as a restaurateur began at the age of 14, when he started working at the Shiraz Indian Restaurant on the Wyle Cop in Shrewsbury.

By 1976, and after learning his trade, he got the opportunity to open his own restaurant - The Simla on Beatrice Street in neighbouring Oswestry.

But he told BBC Radio Shropshire: "Even in my restaurant then, I would be called all sorts of names by people. It was part of living."

"The worst way to tackle [abuse]," he said, "was to turn the same thing to [the abuser]. Two wrongs don't make a right. That was our diplomatic way of sorting out problems."

Miah, who said he took George as a first name to help his customers, said attitudes towards him and his family had since changed greatly.

"People who were bad or rude to us then are bringing their grandchildren here and they're even owning up to what they've done and saying to their grandchildren 'look this is what we did to George and he put up with us'. And now I'm a legend to them."

Miah met his wife Julie in the 1970s when he was working in Dudley and walked into Woolworths, where she worked. "I went shopping there, she gave me a smile and that was it. And she's been an anchor in my life since then," he said.

They have three grown-up children, all of whom have had a hand in running the restaurant.

One of his proudest moments was in 2021, when he was presented with a British Empire Medal by the Queen for his services to the town.

George said he could not have lasted this long without the support of his family, friends and staff and added: "The people who've come through the door over the past 50 years, for the respect they give now, more or less every night, at some point I come in tears of joy because of what they say to me. It touches my heart."

The anniversary is on 24 May and during that week the restaurant will be celebrating with regulars and hosting a charity night for local causes.

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