Hundreds of people from all walks of life lined the streets of Sidmouth for a Mardi Gras-style send-off that would have ‘gob-smacked’ a popular town character.

Celebrations to remember Dave ‘Mad Dog’ Maddock, who died on July 7 at the age of 51, started last Thursday and continued over the weekend.

It began with a procession through the town, featuring friends aged from 15 to 85, musicians and two servicemen in full military regalia.

Gill, Dog’s wife of five years, said: “It was immense. The amount of people, the love – I’ve never known anything like it. It was the send-off Dog deserved, but he would have been gob-smacked by it. He had dear friends from all walks of life.

“Huge thanks to everybody. It takes a community to look after a sick man and they did – now they’re looking after me.”

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Gill thanked Sidsoft and Sidmouth Print for printing the orders of service and some ‘huge’ posters of Dog. She also praised the hospice

staff, nurses and Boots workers and everyone else who helped her care for her husband.

The Warrington lad and lifelong Manchester United and AC/DC fan arrived in Sidmouth in 1986 and soon made his presence known. He was a ‘bartender extraordinaire’ who worked in most of the pubs in town.

But Dog lived a varied life before Sidmouth and visitors came from across the world – from Australia to Bulgaria – to speak at his funeral.

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Lewis Hanson, who led the procession, said: “What a day of sweet celebration. A day of utter joy. A day when Sidmouth’s youth, albeit from different time periods, came together in their hundreds to say thank you for the life of a man that gave us all, a zest for life. A kindly man with an open heart.

“The multitude that amassed in Old Fore Street bore testimony to this.

“The honour to make this final walk with Dog along the streets of this beautiful town will stay with us all, I’m sure.”

He said the crematorium was overflowing, with many mourners outside, and praised the ‘amazing’ staff at Sidmouth Rugby Club for providing the ‘most perfect’ venue for the celebration of Dog’s life.

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Dave is survived by Gill, his mum Margaret and brother John.