THE funeral of George Webb, known better to the public of Worcester as Chicken George, is to take place on Monday.

One of the Faithful City's most colourful characters, he died at St Cloud's Nursing Home in Callow End earlier this month. He was 85.

For more than a generation his presence in the city centre became synonymous with the day-to-day life of Worcester. In the heyday of his local fame in the 1970s and 80s he would dance along to the tunes of buskers, much to the amusement of the public and to the annoyance of some street musicians.

Fond of his drink, he would also be seen wandering through the streets sometimes shouting expletives as he went about his day.

It is widely believed that he was dubbed Chicken George because of his strange, jerky method of dancing, but some readers have also said it was because he had to sleep in the chicken coop in his sister's home when he came home worse for wear after a day's drinking. Chicken George was fiercely patriotic and claimed to have fought in the war at Dunkirk.

So well-known was he that artists even included him in paintings when capturing Worcester street life.

The funeral service will take place at Worcester Baptist Church, Sansome Walk, at 10am on Monday and will be followed by interment at Astwood Cemetery.