FUNDRAISERS will be toasting the memory of a Weymouth builder after he left them £500 in his will.

War veteran Bill Clough died of cancer at the age of 78 last December, leaving an estate worth nearly £1million to his wife and two children.

One of the original charter members of Weymouth Lions Club, he did not forget his old friends either and bequeathed the club enough cash to provide for a sumptuous wine-and-port toast - on condition they drank to his memory.

The president of Weymouth Lions Club, Russ Woolley, said: "Bill was a popular member of the club, with a great sense of humour, and he is sorely missed.

"We have not yet decided exactly how to spend the money. We will have to do it democratically and put it to the club.

"One suggestion is that instead of having a one-off drink, we toast his memory each year on the anniversary of his death.

"That way, the money would last for several years."

Another Lions Club member, Bob Taylor, is also a consultant at Pengilly & Ridge, the solicitors' firm handling Mr Clough's last wishes.

He said: "Provision for a toast is quite an unusual thing to be included in a will, it is the first time I have heard of it.

"The Lions Club normally proposes a toast at one of our monthly dinner meetings, so it would probably happen then."

Originally from Northumberland, Mr Clough hit the headlines in 1986 when he was arrested for harassing a group of squatters at one of his properties in Commercial Road.

Mr Clough was so incensed at being refused entry to his own house that he threw a brace and bit through one of the windows.

Bob Taylor said Mr Clough's strong views were remembered with fondness.

He added: "Bob was very annoyed with the squatters.

"Although the police came round, he wasn't kept in the cells overnight.

"It was just a few hours and was more of a publicity stunt."