A READER got a shock when she spotted herself as a young woman in a newspaper advert for an estate agent.

Marilyn Raggett was reading the Echo’s sister paper, the Southend Standard, when she spotted her face staring back at her.

Mrs Ragget was pictured in an image of shoppers in Southend High Street in the Fifties, used in an advertising campaign for estate agent Hair & Son.

She said: “I thought, ‘My goodness, that’s me’. I even got my magnifying glass out to be sure.”

While she hadn’t seen the image before, she had seen a similar one taken in the High Street at about the same time, in which she was also pictured.

The photo used by Hair & Son prompted her to visit StormCreative, in Leigh, which produced the advert.

She shared her story with the staff and Hair & Son’s partners, who happened to be having a meeting there at the time.

Mrs Raggett has lived in the Southend area for all her life, raising four children and working in the personnel department of now-defunct credit card company Access. She has witnessed many changes, including the pedestrianisation of Southend High Street.

She said: “It’s amazing how things have changed. I have school friends who now find it hard to make their way around the town.

“Southend is barely recognisable compared with then.”

Richard Hair, from Hair & Son added: “Mrs Raggett just happened to live round the corner and called in to say it was her in the picture. It’s a lovely coincidence.

“One thing we are proud of is that we are part of the community, so to have someone from the community come in just as we are doing our rebranding is wonderful.

“The team at Hair & Son were delighted Mrs Raggett made the connection and shared her story.”

Danielle Knowles, from Storm, said: “We are pleased the advert we created, using vintage photos of the Southend area, has caught the eye of local residents.

“We never imagined someone from one of the photos would walk into our office, but we are delighted that Mrs Raggett came to see us.”