A FUNERAL cortege paused outside Darlington's Covered Market yesterday to pay tribute to butcher Don Manson, who worked there for 58 years.

Mr Manson died last week, aged 79, having only retired from C Harrison's stall in January.

"His customers can't believe he never lived to enjoy his retirement," said his niece, Anna Kirkpatrick. "He was always there with a smile and a joke."

Mr Mason started work in the market in 1940 when he was 13 as a bicycle delivery boy, delivering meat to the villages around Darlington.