ONE of Bungay's great characters, Sidney Payne, died on Sunday - his 95th birthday.He will be remembered for the many roles he filled in the town, including a retained fireman, window cleaner, barman, and running a mobile fish and chip van.

ONE of Bungay's great characters, Sidney Payne, died on Sunday - his 95th birthday.

He will be remembered for the many roles he filled, including retained fireman, window cleaner, barman and running a mobile fish and chip van. But mainly Sid will be remembered for his loyal supporting role in his wife Dinky's charity stall in Angel Yard that raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for good causes over nearly 20 years.

On Thursdays and Saturdays, in all weathers, the two of them were there, with Sid doing much of the fetching and carrying between their home and the store shed in the yard with his barrow. "One Bungay person told me he would be remembered as a familiar figure for pushing his barrow up and down the street," said his daughter Mary.

Sid and Dinky were a great team until their health finally forced them to end the stall. Dinky died 15 months ago, and her husband died on Sunday at The Dell residential home at Oulton Broad.

Born in Beccles, Sid worked at Elliott and Garrood both before and during the war, when it made items for the war effort. After marrying Dinky they lived in Bungay and he would bike to Beccles. They had met when both were members of the Bungay Cycling Club, and together they would bike as far as London and back on their tandem.

After the war Mr Payne spent two years in the RAF, mainly in Egypt, and then worked for a spell at the bomb dump at Earsham. In 1954 he and Dinky took on a mobile fish and chip business, their rounds including the Saints villages. At other times Sid worked as a window cleaner and a gardener, tending the Bungay Bowls Club green. He was a barman at the King's Head Hotel and Bungay Royal British Legion Club and also worked at Howard Rotavator, at Harleston. His last job before he retired, in 1977, was at Fibrenyle at Beccles.

A keen football follower, he supported Bungay Town in the 1950s and Norwich City. He played bowls at Mettingham and darts at the Angel, in Bungay. There, he featured in a photographic portrait study of local characters that adorned the walls of the bar for some years. He leaves children Mary and Peter, four grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild.