Retired veterinary surgeon William Morrison Milne, who had practices in Bicester and Kidlington, has died aged 86.

Mr Milne, known as Bill, opened a practice in Bicester in an area known as Evans Yard, in 1963, and travelled around the country working with racehorses and hunters.

He later opened a branch in Oxford Road, Kidlington, not far from his home in Hampton Poyle, and transferred there in the early 1980s before becoming involved in the development of Evans Yard into a shopping precinct.

Born in Edinburgh, Mr Milne graduated from the Edinburgh Veterinary School in 1942 and his first job was in Whitchurch, Shropshire, where he met his future wife, Margaret.

After a second job in Penzance, Mr Milne became a captain in the Royal Veterinary Corps and served in Italy during the Second World War looking after Cypriot mule companies that ferried supplies to the troops.

He bought his first veterinary practice in Nottingham in 1946.

Mr Milne and his wife had one son and three daughters. He was a member and president of Bicester Rotary Club, president of Islip Young Farmers' Club and a member of the parole board at Grendon Prison, near Bicester. The funeral was at Oxford Crematorium followed by a thanksgiving service at St Mary's parish church, Hampton Poyle, on Thursday (August 19).