A CHILDREN'S entertainer who wowed the crowds with his Punch and Judy show has died.

Uncle Mike, who performed at the Worcester Festival, lost his battle with cancer at the beginning of this month at the age of 61.

A funeral was held in Birmingham for the entertainer, who never revealed his real name to the public, on Thursday, February 15.

His agent, John Jeremy, of Boo Boo Entertainments, said he was upset to lose such a great entertainer and he will be sadly missed.

Chris Jaeger, chief executive of Worcester Live, the organisation behind the Worcester Festival, said: "We were all very saddened to hear of Uncle Mike's passing. He has been such a feature of the festival over the years and will be sadly missed. Our thoughts are with his friends and family "He has been one of the best-known faces of the last four years of the Worcester Festival. A brilliant and extremely hard-working children's performer, he was equally at home with Punch and Judy, magic, puppets and balloon modelling.

"Children and adults alike loved him and there was always a large crowd whenever he was performing outside Huntingdon Hall. He will be sorely missed."