A dustman who collected Maidstone's rubbish for 42 years was given a fitting send-off when a dustcart took its place in the funeral cortege.

Harry John Makepeace, known as Obie, is one of the town's longest-serving refuse collectors. He died aged 58 and mourners turned out to pay their respects at St Martin's Church in Shepway.

Mr Makepeace, from Tovil, started working as a dustman for Maidstone Borough Council, aged 16, and was still employed, by Biffa, at the time of his death.

He was also a huge fan of Christmas and organised a display at his home in Courtenay Road every year for 20 years - each time raising about £1,000 each year for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Trust.

He would dress as Father Christmas and stand by his makeshift grotto, collecting cash and giving sweets to visitors.

He held annual raffles for the charity, which he supported even more enthusiastically after his granddaughter Bethany, now nine and healthy, was born prematurely and flown to Maidstone Hospital.

Initially he emptied bins in Tovil, later transferring to a rural route including Nettlestead, Yalding, Coxheath and Marden, which he worked on for 15 years.

At his funeral a Biffa dustcart followed the horse-drawn hearse to St Martin’s Church, Northumberland Court, Shepway, and his colleagues gave him a guard of honour as his sons carried the coffin into the church.

Son Fred Makepeace, 40, from Tovil, said: "Obie was a nickname his brother gave him in his teens and it stuck. I don't know how he came up with it.

"Dad put the lights up for us when we were kids and was still doing it until seven years ago when he had a heart attack.

"Everyone knew dad. You'd see him out the front of his house, leaning on his bin with a can of Foster's in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

"I couldn't fault him, he was a brilliant dad and a very generous person."

Pete Dickson, commercial director of Biffa's municipal division, said: "His long experience and knowledge of the area made him a true professional. Today, chaps like Harry are scarce, and he's sorely missed. Our thoughts are with his family and friends."

Mr Makepeace, who died of suspected heart failure, was born in London and moved to Maidstone in his late teens.

He leaves a large family including wife and childhood sweetheart Linda, four brothers, two sisters, six sons, seven grandchildren, four step-grandchildren and a great-grandson.