Surrey Street market is mourning the loss one of its best-loved characters who died last week.

Posters of Evered Wesley Payne have sprung up through the market calling on people to help celebrate his life at his funeral on October 27.

The 51-year-old’s coffin will be carried through the street where he had become a fixture since he began hanging around to help the traders as a child, before the procession moves on to Croydon Parish Church for a 1pm service.

Market worker Richard Cooper, 40, said Mr Payne was the strongest person he knew when it came to setting out the stalls.

He said: “He could get one of these stalls up and down on his own.

“I’ve worked down here since I was seven and he was always here.

“He was a good man and we’ll miss him – and so will a lot of people around here.”

Mr Payne was a popular figure in the nearby pubs as well, holding court in the window seat of the Green Dragon every Saturday.

Landlady Esther Sutton said: “He was a real character and always happy.

“He would sit on the window sill outside and wait for me to open, sometimes from 8.30am.

“He was well known by the regulars, and everyone had time for him.

“I heard he died a couple of days afterwards – it was a real shock because he was a young man.”

Market inspector Fiona Woodcock said Mr Payne had proved a massive help to the traders as a one-man security service when the clubs began kicking out drinkers in the early hours.

She said: “He was a great help to the traders, particularly at night “He was just very good at helping and a great support when the clubs started turning out.

“Clearly the traders took him under their wing and he felt very at home in the market.

“People would look after him with clothes and he was made to feel it was part of his family, and he found a lot of support here.

“He was very much a Croydon character and will be greatly missed.”

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