drinkers at The George in Bridport’s South Street raised a glass to Keith Floyd after hearing about his death.

Landlord Mike Doldon said quite a few of regulars were close friends of the television chef.

He said: “Lots of the locals raised their glasses to him on Tuesday. Most people seem of the opinion he was approachable and popular.”

Friend and barman Tim Quirk, 62, knew Keith Floyd before he was famous and recalls him as one of life’s greatest bon viveurs – and he should know, having served him during his numerous stays at the hostelry.

Mr Quirk said: “I knew him through the Martins, who had a house in West Bay. They were great friends of his and he used to come down regularly to see them. They had a growing family and no guest room so they put him up at the George.

“He and John Mander, my boss the then landlord, hit it off immediately because they had the same ideology about food. They both believed in seasonality, fresh ingredients, simplicity of preparation and enjoying themselves.

“I was left to manage the bar while they went off to Arthur’s at The Riverside. They always had the same thing – boiled lobsters, new potatoes and two bottles of Marques de Caceres white rioja and that kept them happy for a day or two. It was just what they wanted, nothing fancy.

“The first programme to go out in the first series of Floyd on Fish was actually cooked at The George. The main news on BBC when he died put out a picture of Floyd and it was in The George because I recognised my handwriting on the blackboard saying scallops.

“Incidentally, they invented the West Bay scallop festival which the press fell for and we had queries about it for years. It was a total invention. He even mentioned it on the telly but the three of us were the only ones in on it.

“He had his 40th birthday at the George. I ordered 12 dozen oysters and we blocked off half the bar.

“However, it hadn’t occurred to anyone how to open the things. I was advised to use a tea towel but I managed to get a hole in my hand and a scar for years.

“John Mander died five years ago and he was responsible for the food that goes on in Bridport these days. “All the other pubs were doing ham sandwiches and we started doing ‘proper food’ and they all thought we were mad. That was the reason Keith took to him so much because they were made of the same cloth and they both liked considerable quantities of drink and I am bound to say I was of the same mind.”

Mr Quirk was immortalised in one of Keith’s books for his strawberry daquiries – the best in the universe, according to Floyd.

Mr Quirk said they never treated Keith as a celebrity.

“And of course when we first met him, he wasn’t one. The first lot of his programmes only went out regionally. I stopped off in Bristol after the first one aired and rang him up – it was around 1982 and I met him in what was The Unicorn hotel.

“I checked in and was told to go and sort the bar out where there was havoc. There was Floyd completely besieged by people brandishing paper napkins and all sorts of things getting his autograph and that was the first time it had happened.

“He said: ‘get me out of here, what have you done to me?’ but it was very good natured and he realised where his bread was buttered. He treated everyone pleasantly.”

West Bay fisherman Jack Woolmington also featured in Floyd’s very first TV series.