HUNDREDS of mourners filled St John's Church in Devizes on Friday afternoon to pay tribute to former town mayor Dick Breach who died, aged 76, on May 21.

Town district and county councillors mixed with residents of Mr Breach's native village of Bromham and colleagues from Masonic Lodges in the area to pay their respects.

The service was taken by Canon John Record, the rector of St John's and St Mary's and there were readings from Mr Breach's granddaughters Michelle and Gemma and his son Paul.

Peter Amor, a friend since the 1940s when they played for Bromham Football Club, told the congregation Mr Breach had a tough start in life when his father died when he was young.

He and his brother Ron had to help their mother run the family market gardening business. Indeed, the two brothers worked together until they retired in the 1970s.

Mr Breach was conscripted into the Royal Navy during the Second World War and served on board minesweepers as a cook. After retiring from the market garden, he helped his wife Pam run the Eastleigh Road post office.

He served as a county councillor for the ward which included his beloved Bromham for 16 years from 1975 to 1991 and was also a town and district councillor for many years.

He was mayor of Devizes in 1992, launching Devizes and District Link and visiting Waiblingen as part of a twinning conference.

Mr Amor said: "We have lost a dear and good friend and a man who never feared saying what he felt."

The service closed with Mr Breach's fellow masons singing the Masonic Moonrakers Song to the tune of Onward Christian Soldiers.