LEATHER-CLAD bikers and Didcot taxi drivers stood shoulder to shoulder yesterday to pay their last respects to a “dedicated, loyal and popular” cabbie from the town.

Motorbike enthusiast Conal McGarvey, who drove cabs for Pryors of Didcot for the past 20 years, died suddenly last month from a heart attack, aged just 59.

Yesterday, his casket arrived at Didcot’s English Martyrs’ church in Manor Road in a special motorbike hearse. David Pryor of Pryors said: “He was incredibly popular with staff and customers. He was a dedicated, loyal member of staff who was fun to be with.

“He will be sorely missed by all of us, particularly the Telegraph crossword club which some of the drivers had.

“We will all be very sad without him and he will be incredibly hard to replace.”

Mr McGarvey, who also used to be a delivery driver for West London’s K-Tel records in the 1970s, was a passionate motorcyclist, owned three Italian Moto Guzzi bikes and was a member of the Moto Guzzi club.

Born in Hertfordshire, he grew up in various towns around the Home Counties and after leaving school trained to be a police officer in Kidlington.

He then worked for K-Tel before moving to Oxfordshire where he found work as a taxi driver. He formerly lived in Sutton Courtenay but in the past few years moved to South Stoke near Wallingford. He died on May 24 in Ireland while visiting family.

His brother Shane McGarvey, who lives near Thatcham in Berkshire, said: “He was a nice, easy-going bloke.”