Tributes have been paid to a retired BT engineer who was a ‘Patcham boy through and through’.

George Clift died on May 9 aged 80.

His wife Helen described him as a lovely, gentle, generous and faithful husband and said he adored his five daughters, ten grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

She said: “He was very popular with all his colleagues and people who knew him in any capacity.

“He was known for his sense of humour but also for his integrity and for being a man of principles who was passionate about the things he believed in.”

Mr Clift was well-known in the area for his involvement with All Saints Church and for setting up the Old Boat Corner Community Association in the late 1980s.

The Old Boat Corner Community Centre was opened in 1988 in partnership with Asda while Mr Clift was chairman of the association.

Mrs Clift said: “He loved the sense of belonging that the community centre made possible and always valued all the friends he and we made in the community.”

Although born in Essex, Mrs Clift said her husband was passionately fond of Patcham.

She said: “He grew up there spending his young life playing on the Downs and had many tales to tell of the wartime and the planes and bombs that fell.”

Mr Clift was also a life-long fan of Brighton and Hove Albion and it was his ambition to visit the American Express Community Stadium, which he was able to realise.

His funeral takes place on Thursday, May 24, at All Saints Church in Patcham.