A well-known Black Country character who played the bugle at Remembrance Day parades and won competitions for eating raw eggs has died.

George Goulcher, also known as George White, died on March 23, aged 68, after many years of ill health. Tributes have been paid to the Walsall Football Club fan by his friends. Pal Graham Payne said: “George was a lovely man and very well known in Walsall.

“He had an opinion about everything He was very much a character. He wore a deerstalker hat, played his bugle at the cenotaph and sang in churches around town.

“He used to drink in the pubs in the Caldmore area where he apparently held the record for eating the most raw eggs.

“He would also eat whole chickens including the bones. In later years he suffered ill-health and used a mobility scooter and a walking frame.”

Mr Goulcher, of Trees Road, Palfrey, was a regular visitor to activities run by Walsall Service User Empowerment. Manager Roger Merrick said: “He had been ill and in declining health for many years, but until now had somehow survived and soldiered on.

“Very many of you will have known George as he was a real local character. I’m sure a lot of you will have seen, and spoken to, him in the town centre where he used to watch and take part in everything that was going on.”

Mr Merrick went on: “He was one of those people who seemed to know everyone, and everyone seemed to know him.

“He had a seemingly bottomless knowledge of Walsall’s history, especially of crime and scandal,” Mr Merrick added.

Mr Goulcher’s funeral will be on Thursday at 1pm at St Mary the Mount RC Church, Glebe Street, Caldmore.