Budleigh Salterton On the Buses' actor Reg Varney dies aged 92

COMEDY actor and Budleigh Salterton resident Reg Varney has died aged 92 after a short illness.

Tributes have begun pouring in for the popular 70s actor, best known for his role as Stan Butler in On the Buses.

Mr Varney's daughter Jeanne Marley, 59, said her father died 'peacefully' on Sunday afternoon.

She said he died shortly at a nursing home in the town, where he had recently been admitted with a chest infection.

Mr Varney, who lived at Dark Lane for 20 years, had lived alone since his wife Lillian died in 2002.

He is survived by his daughter, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Mr Varney's funeral is yet to be arranged.

On the Buses was one of the most popular British comedies on television in the 1970s.

The series ran for seven years from 1969 and followed two characters - happy-go-lucky Stan Butler, played by Varney, and conductor Jack Harper, played by co-star Bob Grant - who dodged work and tried their best to wind up inspector Cyril 'Blakey'.

Mrs Marley said of her father: "He's always been very young for his age. When he was in On the Buses he was playing a 35-year-old, but he was actually 50.