There was once a time when Brown Derbies and Bender sausages were competing against Big Macs and Bargain Buckets for Suffolk's fast food attention.

Now just one Wimpy remains in Suffolk - in Felixstowe - but there was once a time when the chain had a branch on nearly every high street in the county.

%image(15528438, type="article-full", alt="Between Christmas and New Year in 2005, the then Evening Star wrote about a power cut in Felixstowe which left thousands of people without electricity. Pictured are the staff at the Wimpy in Felixstowe making the best of the situation by lighting candles and playing "Bobit"")

%image(15528443, type="article-full", alt="The staff at Wimpy in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe, in January 2006. Manager Bobby Sekhon (right) and chef Duncan Biggs")

Founded in the USA in 1937, at its height the chain had more than 500 stores in the UK offering the iconic Brown Derby, a donut with a scoop of ice cream in the middle, and the Bender in a Bun sausage burger.

%image(15528446, type="article-full", alt="The Wimpy in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe in 2003")

Now, just 67 remain.

%image(15528447, type="article-full", alt="The Wimpy in Old Market Place in Sudbury in 2010.")

In 2019, one of Suffolk's last remaining Wimpys closed.

The chain's branch at Old Market Place in Sudbury announced it would be closing, saying: “We would like to say a big thank you to all our customers throughout the years that have been by our side in Wimpy.

“We are shutting Wimpy down. The Wimpy company was not satisfying us or our customers any more.”

%image(15528436, type="article-full", alt="Inside the Wimpy in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe in 2002.")