Beryl Oldacre, Britain's longest serving street walker has finally hung up her fishnet support tights and laid down, for once, to rest.
A familiar sight around Chelmsford's train station and industrial areas for decades, Beryl is believed to have serviced close to 25,000 punters in her 68 years on the game.
Some of her former regulars held a candle light vigil in her favourite underpass round the back of the council offices on Tindal street.
Mr John Smith of Basildon said that Beryl was as much a friend as she was a cheap and easy shag. "I never went a week without popping round to see our Beryl. She was a real old fashioned diamond. Always had a smile for me as she finished me off by hand".
Meanwhile, John Smith of Epping was another loyal customer. "I used to see Beryl regular for nigh on 40 years, man and boy" said Mr Smith. "She was a handsome woman right to the end. I used to like it when she took her teeth out. She'd do anything to please her regulars; proper old school."
One of her youngest admirers was 19 year old John Smith of Writtle. "I only knew Beryl for a few months" said the youngster, clearly fighting back the tears. "She had this glass eye that she used to take out. It reminded me of when I was young and I lost a tooth, you know, that warm jelly like feeling when you put your tongue in the slot where the tooth used to be. She had an orifice for every occasion."
In an interview for the Essex Chronicle in 2005, Beryl put her longevity down to a nip of whiskey before going out, always avoiding lorry drivers and never visiting Ipswich.
A mystery benefactor has paid for Beryl to be sent off in style. The full carriage and four in black has been paid for by a small, ugly bald man with thick legs and a strong Liverpool accent.
Her funeral is to be held at the town's crematorium on Monday afternoon. Mourners are requested not to bring flowers, but discretely slip a £20 note under the lid of the coffin.
