Tributes are paid to royal stamp designer Maurice Meers

The family of a Midland pensioner who died four days after having a car accident have paid tribute to "a wonderful man" who once designed a stamp for royalty.

Maurice Meers, 81, was driving his Range Rover down Blake Street, in Little Aston, when he collided with a white Volkswagen Van.

Despite being able to drive to his home, in Chester Road, Streetly, Mr Meers was taken ill on the same day – March 17 – and taken to Walsall Manor Hospital where he died of a brain haemorrhage the following Wednesday.

His wife Betty, aged 80, said the family had been devastated by the loss, but they had taken comfort from the support shown from friends and other people who knew him.

She said: "He was like a fit 60-year-old, you wouldn't know he was over 80. He was a wonderful man, everyone liked him."

Mr Meers' daughter Trudie Gorman, aged 59, said her father was a popular man in the Walsall area and spent his life in graphic design.

He made his family proud in 1977 when he was asked to design a stamp for the King of Tonga.

He is survived by his wife, two children and four grandchildren. Mr Meers will be laid to rest at Streetly Crematorium on Saturday, followed by a wake at The Park House, in Sutton Park.