A BENCH has been dedicated to the memory of a popular Big Issue seller who died earlier this year.

Garry Hook, 33, was a familiar face in Dorchester town centre where he sold the magazine for four years until his sudden death in June.

Customers and passers-by laid flowers at the spot on South Street where the father-of-two used to stand.

Now a memorial plaque has been erected on a refurbished bench outside KJC Mobile Phones to mark Garry's life.

Garry's best friend Richard Kiddle said he had set up a memorial fund after Garry's death.

He said: "I got in touch with West Dorset District Council and said that I wanted to do this. They were very helpful.

"The people of Dorchester were very supportive and we collected enough money for the plaque and the bench."

Mr Kiddle said he and Garry had first met 14 years ago and had become firm friends.

He said: "I met him when we were both living on the streets.

"We got chatting and kept in touch when we moved on to different places.

"Later on we both moved into the same homeless hostel. Garry was my best man at my wedding."

Mr Kiddle said the response to his friend's death in Dorchester had showed how highly others regarded him.

He said: "He had been on the same spot for four years and the tributes really explained how many friends he had made and how many hearts he touched. When the flowers were being laid I sometimes just stood there listening to what people said. It was really touching.

"It really showed that he had become part of the community," Mr Kiddle added.

A spokesman for West Dorset District Council, which installed the bench, said: "Mr Hook was a very well-known person locally.

"We were happy to be able to help to mark his memory."