Tributes have today been paid to a man who followed in his father's footsteps to become a key figure at one of the biggest names in Norwich's once thriving shoe industry.

Walter Moll, 90, a former joint managing director of Bally Shoes, passed away peacefully with his family by his side at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital following a short illness.

His wife Jan, who had been married to Mr Moll for 54 years before his death on May 3, said he was a 'much loved family man'.

Mr Moll, a father of four and grandfather of six who lived at Newmarket Road, was born in Switzerland but moved to the city 'which very much became his home' in 1934.

He came to the city because his father, Paul, had been commissioned by his employer, Bally Shoes to set up a manufacturing operation in Norwich.

The former Town Close Preparatory School and Gresham's pupil spent his entire working life, until he retired at the age of 62, working for Bally Shoes, which at one time employed more than 1500 people in the city, initially in France and then in Norwich.

In 1955 he was appointed to the Company's Board of Directors and became President of the British Boot and Shoe Institute. He was then given the responsibility for building and developing a new factory in Lowestoft to enable the company to keep up with demand.

Mr Moll, who in 1969 became a Fellow of the British Boot and Shoe Institute, loved travelling and was also a Norwich City season ticket holder and lifetime member at Eaton Golf Club.

A funeral service will be held at St. Andrew's Church, Eaton on Tuesday, May 31 at 2 pm. Family flowers only please, however donations made payable to either St. Andrew's Tower Restoration Appeal or Prostate Cancer UK may be given, if desired and sent c/o Ivan Fisher Independent Funeral Home, Norton House, 17 Park Drive, Hethersett, Norwich, NR9 3EN.