Ottery’s ‘French chef’ is hanging up his whites after raising more than £4,000 for Hospiscare by doing odd jobs while wearing his distinctive outfit.

Paul Godfrey cooked up the idea of helping people who were housebound during lockdown, along with key workers and those in the NHS.

Dressed as the French chef mascot of Ottery Food and Families Festival, he walked around the streets near his home in Slade Close, offering to carry out minor house and garden work in exchange for a donation to the charity.

He also organised several online auctions with lots donated by local businesses.

Having exceeded his £4,000 target by £200, Mr Godfrey said it was time for him to have a rest.

He described the months of fundraising as ‘a good adventure’.

“It was just seeing people’s faces,” he said. “Me, looking a right idiot in my French Chef outfit, it put a smile on people’s faces.”