A man has paid tribute to his father - a real life Del Boy who sold the Gazette for more than 50 years - after he died recently.

Ronald Joseph Chandler, who died aged 81 and was buried on September 9, ran a shop in the now demolished Northampton Building, on Skinner Street, from around 1956 to 1978.

When the building was knocked down, he set up a stall on the corner of Exmouth market, where he sold the Gazette right up until 2008, when he retired due to ill health.

Mr Chandler, who was born in the Northampton Building in 1930, lived in Islington all his life.

His son Jeffrey, 54, said: “He was like Del Boy, everyone knew him and liked him - he was really chatty with them all. Over the years he saw generations and generations of people coming in to buy papers.

“I was pretty much brought up in the shop, it was real family business, my mum would be cooking dinner in the back while he was working in the front.

“Back then, people used to queue up waiting for the paper to be delivered on a Thursday. It was always the best paper for local people.

“He will be truly missed as husband, dad, grandad and great grandad and we want to thank everybody for thier kind support and flowers.”