ONE of Trowbridge’s most well-known and colourful characters, Paddy O’Shea, has died at the age of 80.

Friends and former colleagues have paid tribute Mr O’Shea, a popular and regular sight at events in Trowbridge, who died of natural causes last Wednesday.

Born on January 8, 1935, in Ireland, Mr O’Shea came to live in Trowbridge around the age of 14 and spent much of his working life as a drayman at Usher’s Brewery.

He was a regular attendee of the Trowbridge Carnival and was once refused a passport because his birth was never officially registered.

Trowbridge Councillor John Knight, who first met Mr O’Shea in the 1980s, said: “One of my best memories of him was his 60th birthday party at Usher’s. He invited about 100 people and bought all the drinks and there was a disco – it was just typical Paddy.

“He liked his music, pop music, and he used to love to dance on his own but the youngsters didn’t seem to mind him too much.

“He’s probably best remembered for taking part in the Trowbridge Carnival, for being a cheerful character, a local character who is going to be missed in the town.”

Clive Knight, who used to work with Mr O’Shea at Usher’s Brewery, said: “Paddy was one of the characters of Usher’s.

“He was a likeable and colourful character.”

Tony Oswin, owner of Unique Dentures on Stallard Street who Mr O’Shea rented a flat off for a period of time, said: “He was a very giving person, he’d get money in his pension and he’d give it all away.

“Everybody knew him in the town because he was such a character and he used to go to the discos even in his seventies.

“He was just an outgoing person who attended so many events in the town.

“He used to pretend that he was Lord Bath and we actually went to a funeral in Devon where everyone believed he was.

“Everyone will agree they will miss him because of the character he was.”