A FAMILIAR face in and around Ludlow has died.

Keith Mitchell has lived in Ludlow since the 1960s. He has been described as one of the characters of the town. Mr Mitchell was born in Brighton with learning difficulties and impaired speech and was fostered with his sister around the age of nine or 10 and came to Ludlow with his foster mother. He later lived independently and used to help people with gardening and other jobs.

A poem has been written in his memory by his friend Helen Carlyle.

Go to your rest, Keith Mitchell, go to your rest dear friend.

Hop on your bike, take a massive hill hike, to the place where horizons end.

Thank you for your generosity, all those years of giving and care,

But what will replace the sweet look on your face, or the comfort of knowing you’re there?

No job was too big, no job was too small. a jolly good thing, Keith, that you were so tall!

So helpful, so thoughtful, so funny, so kind, and taking a cut, the last thing on your mind.

So relish the freedom you have now, no mountain is too big to climb.

Sister Susan and you, your lives can renew and the rest of it will be sublime.