A Paddington Green shop is promising a right royal knees-up as friends, family and customers come together to mark the diamond jubilee of the king of the scooters.

R Agius on Edgware Road is celebrating 60 years of business as the go-to place for mods and scooter aficionados and is thought to be the longest running Vespa shop in the country.

The shop, which has been in the same family for more than six decades, was started by Richard Agius in 1947 and originally started out as a bicycle and invalid carriage shop.

Claude Agius, 73, Richard’s son who lives just off the Broadway in Muswell Hill, said: “It all started in 1952 really as that was when we started selling Vespas and we have been doing it ever since. I think we are the oldest in the country.

“The popularity has come in different waves. The first was in the sixties but then died out completely at the end of the decade.

“But then a couple of film producers came to us asking if we had some scooters as they were making a film called Quadrophemia.

“I wish we had held on to the scooters now as they went over a cliff in the film and then things exploded after it came out.”

To mark sixty years, the family is pulling out a series of surprises for Mr Agius, who has worked in the shop most of his adult life.

Customers – including celebrities such as Sir Stirling Moss - are expected to drop in tomorrow (Friday) to mark the anniversary along with customers and friends who have been coming down for generations.

Claudia Agius, Claude’s daughter who lives on Hornsey Lane, said: “We want to give something back to the customers who have supported us for so long so we are getting them all together.

“We have everyone from road sweepers to politicians and people of all nationalities coming in and they are all here for the same thing – they love the scooters.”