Tributes have been flooded in for broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan who died at the weekend.

Maidstone Cllr David Pickett said: “It is very sad news.

“I met Sir Terry in 1972 when he visited the Landports Department Store in Portsmouth.

“I was working there at the time and we had a great day.

“I was instructed to ‘whip up a crowd’ as part of the ‘Star Spot’ visit so that when Terry arrived at the main store entrance he would be greeted by a great cheer, which in fact he was anyway.

“He was a great kindly man and he enjoyed the day he spent in the store - although we did spend some hours trying to find a button that had come adrift from his jacket!

“God bless you Terry – you will be greatly missed.”

Kent Messenger marketing executive Elaine Terry had the “great privilege“ of being Sir Terry’s personal broadcasting assistant for a period of six months in 1995.

Miss Terry, from Braeburn Way, Kings Hill, said: “My first job straight from school was with the BBC.

“At the time I was part of a pool of staff called The Reserve and we filled in wherever needed.

“You can imagine how excited I was to discover one morning that I’d been assigned to Terry.

“He was doing his Radio 2 Wogan breakfast show at the time, and I also had to help when he recorded the Wogan Show for TV.”

“He was a wonderful, generous man. Any nerves I may have, he soon put me at ease.

“He would get hundreds of letters every week, in fact every day, and he would pay personal attention to all of them.”

It was the era of Sir Terry’s TOGs club - Terry’s Old Geezers and Gals - and his fans loved him.

Miss Terry said: “He would get loads of presents sent in - hand-knitted jumpers, home-made cakes, sweets and chocolates - none of which he was allowed to eat because of the BBC rules.”

She said: “He was an absolute legend, and it’s one of the highlights of my career that I got to work with him.”

The veteran broadcaster died on Sunday after a short battle with cancer. He was 77.

Born in Limerick, he had a 50-year career on television and radio, including presenting Wake up to Wogan on BBC Radio 2 and the Wogan chat show.

He was also the voice of Eurovision for many years and had been involved in Children in Need since it began.

Kmfm presenter and friend Tony Blackburn tweeted: “I can hardly believe my old friend Sir Terry Wogan has died. RIP Terry and thanks for being a friend.”