Tributes paid to popular Ringwood man and Waitrose worker Colin Rabbets – known as 'Bunnie'

TRIBUTES have been paid to "a true Ringwood character" who has died at the age of 72.

Colin Rabbets, who was affectionately known as 'Bunnie', was popular with many who came across him in his job of keeping the Furlong car park together for the Waitrose store or saw him collecting trolleys around the town.

He was born in Ashley Heath and never left Ringwood, most recently residing in the Market Place, and came from a large family spread between the town and Yorkshire.

Sociable and friendly, Bunnie loved going to the White Hart pub, and horse racing. He had worked for 16 years for Waitrose before illness forced him to retire. After his passing at the Macmillan Unit at Christchurch Hospital, hundreds took to Facebook, with one person calling him a "legend".

Friend and Waitrose supermarket assistant, Collette Norris, said: "Most people who live in Ringwood know Bunnie, and he was a true Ringwood character.

"One of the great memories the Waitrose partners will have of Bunnie is the big straw sun hat he would wear in summer days."