The life of 'Mr Diss' was celebrated as the town said goodbye to one its most well known figures on Friday.

Peter Gillings, who ran Gillings of Diss Ltd junkyard, died on October 12 age 69 following a battle with colon cancer.

His funeral took place on Friday at St Mary's Church in Mount Street at 1pm.

David Henshall, a family friend, said: 'A man who thrived on hard work, PG made his living from running shops and from scrap metal and war surplus and he combined this career with a fun and adventurous attitude to everything - as those who read his irregular columns in the Diss Express can testify.

'He was a family friend for more than a quarter century and we are going to miss his sense of humour, his concern to help chums facing any problems and his general heart-lifting joie de vivre.

'We are saying goodbye to him on what would have been his 70th birthday. And he is gone far too soon.'

Mr Gillings was married to his second wife, Patricia, 76, who lives in America, for 23 years and leaves behind two children, Toni, 49, and Simon, 45, from his first marriage, of 22-years, to Trish Goralewski, nee Howell.