Tributes to runaway van death pensioner

11:09am Saturday 16th December 2006

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SHOCKED friends and neighbours of the man whose body was found at an Abertillery crash site paid tribute to a "true gentleman".

It's thought Wilf Rogers from Rhiw Parc Road was siting outside the house on Rhiw Parc Mews when an unoccupied van rolled down the hill and smashed into the building.

One friend of 30 years, Enid Wilcox, 70, of Rhiw Parc Road, said she was "heartbroken" by the news.

"Everybody knows him, he's such a gentleman and you won't find anybody with a bad word to say about him," she said.

"Everyday he would go down to the betting shop about midday and head back up the hill around 2pm.

"He always used to stop at the top of the hill by that house for a rest - he'd sit down and put his feet up."

Lewis Hucker, a neighbour and friend, was on the scene of the accident soon after it happened.

"I saw the driver phoning the police and I remember asking him if he was all right," he said.

"We talked about how it was lucky there was no one in the house at the time - its shocking.

"Wilf was a real character, a joker - everybody like him. He was one of those people who would do anything for anybody.

"I've lived here for 40 years and he's been here all that time - I think he used to work at Alcan."

Mrs Wilcox told the Argus Mr Rogers lived alone after his wife died a number of years ago.

She described him as a "clean-living man" who drank only occasionally at the Corner Club on Somerset Street.

Stunned neighbour Robert Whittington described Mr Rogers as "very well liked".

"It's so sad to lose him in such horrific circumstances," he added.