TRIBUTES have been paid to the late Ernest Miller, the long-term churchwarden of Langton Long.

Mr Miller served the church for about 40 years, where he took charge of bell ringing, and supervised the church collection.

The Rev Tim Storey, the rector of Blandford and Langton, said: "He was a great servant of Langton Church over many decades."

Mr Miller took pride both in maintaining the cemetery garden and in his work as a gardener with Dorset County Council's roads department.

He spent Saturday afternoons playing or watching football and Sunday mornings at church and a constitutional walk after a lunchtime roast.

He was born in Tincleton in 1918, the son of an agricultural labourer, and the youngest of 11 children.

Regular games with the Blandford Royals saw "Dusty" represent the town over three decades. The powerful left back was known for emphatic clearances.

Farm work lead to a call-up with the home guard during the Second World War. Marriage to Mary in 1941 followed a meeting on Blandford Bridge. The couple moved to the market town during the war, and settled in Edward Street after the birth of their son, Colin, in 1948.

Fit, active, and an opponent of injustice, Mr Miller's family says he was well-liked by friends and colleagues, and treasured his football medals and cigarette cards.

The council worker spent his later years in Parkstone with his childhood sweetheart, Linda Knight. Diane Watts, Linda's daughter, said she would remember Mr Miller fondly, and as a lovely man who never complained.