A funeral procession is being arranged for a beloved shopkeeper who became a local celebrity in Lutterworth.

Satnam Singh Dulai died suddenly on Monday after 35 years of running SSD Londis in New Street in the town with his wife.

His daughter, Sutinder, said: “We wanted to put on the funeral procession for local people because so many have got in touch.

“He was at the shop for 35 years and he was known to everyone as ‘Mr D’.

“He was a great dad – always so happy-go-lucky, with his cheeky grin and his lovely, jovial attitude.

“For him the glass was always half full and people would always say to me when I was younger, ‘You’re so lucky that Mr D is your dad’.”

Mr Dulai was 18 when he came to Leicestershire from Punjab in India in 1960 and he was a member of the Army Cadets in his youth, later working at the Premier Screw factory in Woodgate, Leicester, before he and his wife, Gurbakhsh, bought the shop in Lutterworth.

Sutinder said: “His Sikh religion was very important to him but he was a very modern man for his age.”

Shopkeeper Satnam Singh Dulai

He leaves three children and two grandchildren. His shop is currently up for sale but is still currently open and being run by his family.

Flowers have been left outside the shop following the announcement of Mr Dulai's death.

Among the hundreds of people commenting to Sutinder on Facebook was Vixz Chambers, who said: “Thoughts go out for you and your family. He was an absolute legend such a lovely, friendly man who really made an effort with us all. Will be missed greatly.”

Sarah Maygo Davies said: “He was a huge part of my childhood going to the grammar school and he still remembered who I was every time I went in his shop for the last 13 years.

“It will never be the same without him. He was a pure legend and will be missed by everyone.”

Annette Willcox said: “I once asked your dad when he was going to retire.

“He said ‘What would I do? Where would I go? My shop is my life. I would only be getting under my wife’s feet if I wasn’t here’.

“It struck me how contented he was. Any of us would be lucky yo be so contented. My condolences to your family.”

The news of his death at the age of 75 prompted messages of condolence from more than 800 people in the town and his family decided to arrange for a horse-drawn carriage to take his coffin from Lutterworth to the crematorium in Countesthorpe.

The procession will begin outside his shop at 2.30pm on Monday and go into the town centre and around the one-way system, continuing north along Bitteswell Road and Bill Crane Way before going up the A426 Leicester Road to Countesthorpe.

The cremation will take place at 4pm and be followed by a Sikh service at the Holy Bones temple in Leicester city centre.