BRIAN Carroll, who has died aged 50, was one of Oxfordshire's greatest pool players and a 'gentle giant' who worked in the Oxford Mail's advertising department.

Mr Carroll dominated the county's pool scene for 25 years and represented England, winning the European Championship for the seniors team in 2016.

He won the Bicester singles title 20 times and last month became the first pool player to win two league championships in the same season when he won the Oxford league title.

As the Oxford Mail's sales representative in Bicester he was loved by his many customers and dubbed 'Mr Bicester'.

His mother Shirley said he was a 'gentle giant, who was loved by everybody he met'.

Brian Carroll was born on January 30, 1967, at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford to parents John Carroll, a builder, and Shirley Ferguson, a travel consultant, who also worked for the county council's social services department.

After spending his early years in Oxford the family moved to Bicester.

His parents split up and Mr Carroll moved to Northampton with his mother and went to Falklands Primary School.

He spent the remainder of his childhood in the area, growing up with his half-sister Kathryn, particularly enjoying his time with the Scouts as he entered his teenage years.

When he was at Northampton School for Boys, a careers advisor said he should become a linguist or policeman but he wanted to do a graphic design course at Nene College.

In his early 20s, on completing the course, he moved back to Bicester and got a job as a graphic designer at Goodhead Press.

But the firm made him redundant after a short time there and he moved to a firm called Multiplex in Hungerford.

After they went into liquidation he joined Newsquest Oxfordshire in May 2010 in the advertising department as a field sales representative for the Bicester area.

Apart a few months at Stagecoach, he worked for the Oxford Mail and Bicester Advertiser up until his death earlier this month.

He was loved and respected by his customers with many offering tributes and some set to attend his funeral tomorrow.

It was in the world of pool, however, that Mr Carroll was best known, becoming one of the greatest pool players Oxfordshire has ever produced.

A career spanning 25 years saw him win a record 20 Bicester singles titles and a number of Oxford singles titles too.

In April this year he secured his 20th Bicester title and the following month another Oxford title - becoming the first player in the county to hold to league championships in the same season.

He also represented Oxfordshire in both the English BlackBall Pool Association and English Pool Association leagues.

In 2016 he achieved a lifelong ambition and represented England in its seniors pool team, contributing to its international success in winning the European Championships team title.

He never married or had children - his mother described him as a 'happy bachelor'.

He died following a heart attack on June 13 and is survived by his mother Shirley Ferguson and his sister Kathryn McLennan.

His funeral will take place tomorrow at Oxford Crematorium at 1pm and will be followed by a celebration of his life at his local pool club Bicester & District Ex-Services Club.