LINFOOT Dancewear in Walmgate, York, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

The shop started out as a cobbler before it started to sell dancewear in 1971.

Tracey Pulling, who bought the shop 17 years ago, said she has kept Mr Linfoot’s traditional values, including good customer service.

She said: “It stays pretty regular, it just gets a little bit more fashionable as trends occasionally change.”

The latest trend is Zumba, for which dancers buy bright outfits and flexible shoes. It has been so popular, stockists are struggling to keep up with supply to shops.

Tracey said: “It’s absolutely manic. I’ve never known anything take off like that.”

She said the shop offsets the lower prices offered by internet retailers by forging relationships with the dance schools in York and further afield, from which people travel to Linfoot’s especially.

Links between her shop and husband Noel’s business, Gillygate Shoe Repairs, also provides a complete service or customers, she said.