THERE will be Chelsea buns and doughnuts for tea in heaven tonight, now popular village baker Alfred Palmer has arrived.

For 72 years, villagers in Wichenford, near Worcester, would visit the little bakery run by the Palmer family before Alfred retired.

The 87-year-old died recently in a care home at Leigh Sinton where he spent the latter years of his life.

Mr Palmer was born at the bakery in 1926, a year after his father started the business. He helped out with the family business as a child and, after leaving Hallow School at 14, began working full time.

In its heyday, the business employed eight people from the village, including two bakers, and made regular deliveries around the area in two vans.

The bakery became famous for its Chelsea buns and doughnuts, which were made in the traditional way, and over the years supplied top hotels and restaurants.

When Mr Palmer decided to retire in 1997, his wife Cora said: “The first thing I’m going to do is throw away the alarm clock, because he’s had to get up every day at 4.30 in the morning.”

On the business’s last day, many of the regular customers wore black armbands as Mr and Mrs Palmer served them the final pies to come out of the ovens.

After the bakery closed, the building was converted into a house and the Palmers moved to live in St John’s, Worcester.

Mrs Palmer died in 2008 and Mr Palmer spent his final years in Waterside Care home at Leigh Sinton. His funeral will be on Monday at 11am at Wichenford Church.