ONE of Evesham’s best-known personalities, war veteran and former school caretaker Gilbert Bond, has died at the age of 89.

Mr Bond was active in the Burma Star Association and the Royal British Legion and was a familiar figure both poppy collecting and at Remembrance Day parades in the town.

He was also popular among generations of pupils at Prince Henry’s High School, where he was caretaker for 17 years in the 1970s and 80s.

After he and his wife Elizabeth married at Pentecostal Church, Malvern, in January 1955, the Bond family home was in Coventry for a while before the couple moved to Exmouth, where Mr Bond became a school caretaker and they ran a bed and breakfast from their home.

Mr and Mrs Bond originally moved from Devon up to Ashton- under-Hill, then to Cambrai Road, Evesham in 1969 and lived there ever since.

Mr Bond was taken ill at home three weeks ago and died in Worcestershire Royal Infirmary.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and three grandchildren.

His funeral service will take place at All Saints Church, Evesham on Friday, December 21, at 11am followed by interment at Waterside Cemetery.