Tributes to 'the rock of Didsbury'

TRIBUTES have been paid to a greengrocer hailed as the 'rock of Didsbury! Mohammed Shafiq, who ran FreshSave in the village for almost a quarter of a century, died last month aged 60 following a cancer battle.

- HANA KELLY

The much-loved shopkeeper, who lived in Bolton, was known for his joy, wisdom... and free fresh fruit in his shop.

Scores of comments have been left across two obituary posts on the Facebook page Didsbury M20 - and letters, cards and drawings sent to the shop.

His son Omar, 31, told the M.E.N: "My dad was a celebrity in Didsbury, even all those years ago. We still do, but in them days, we had every single line of what you could think of, they used to call the shop Aladdin's Cave. He'd give everybody time. Even the local shoplifters, he'd have a cup of tea with them. He'd give everybody time. He was the rock of Didsbury. The short time my dad was on this planet, he touched everyone's hearts."