Floral tributes to Captain Sir Tom Moore have been laid at the village green near the house where he lived with one of his daughters and her family.

The Second World War veteran, who died at Bedford Hospital on Tuesday after testing positive for Covid-19, lived in Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire.

A steady stream of well-wishers laid flowers at the village green in Marston Moretaine on Wednesday, with dozens piled up by lunchtime.

A message on one bouquet read: “Thank you for everything Captain Tom.

“May you rest in eternal peace.”

Another said: “An inspiration to the nation. Our deepest condolences on the loss of a great man.”

A third said: “You will always be our hero and forever you will remain in all our hearts. ‘Tomorrow will be a better day’.

“Thank you for your warmth and your wonderful smile.”

A number of PCSOs stood by the gate to Sir Tom’s house, with a police presence throughout the day and plastic barriers stopping traffic from entering the residential side street.

Bill Chandi, Marston Moretaine’s postmaster, said he was “shellshocked” when he heard of Sir Tom’s death.

“We were expecting that Captain Tom would pull through, but this virus has taken our dear Tom away from us,” he said.

“He will be extremely missed.”

He said he had known Sir Tom for more than 20 years and that Sir Tom would visit the Post Office twice per week.

“We always had a little natter and he had a bit of a joke and a laugh,” he said.

“It was a pleasure to meet him.

“He always had time to talk to you.

“It was such an honour to be able to be in his company for such a long time.

“He was a dear friend, not just a customer.”

He said the village Post Office handled around a quarter of a million 100th birthday cards for Sir Tom last year, describing it as “out of this world”.

He said that people started to send messages to Sir Tom’s family again after it was reported that he had been taken to hospital.

He said he received more than 100 cards addressed to the family on Wednesday.