The son of a much-loved elderly man, who died after being hit by a car in Chalfont St Peter on Monday, has paid tribute to his father calling him his “very, very best friend”.

Ernie Moody, 95, was involved in an accident with a black Vauxhall Astra in Lower Road, close to the junction at Grange Road, and sadly died at the scene.

Son Alan, 59, who lives just yards from where the accident happened, described Mr Moody as an “exceptional person” with a “kind, generous, loving soul”, and said he lived for his grandson, Alan’s son, Jaden, 14.

He told the BFP he felt “over-awed” at the “outpouring of grief” from villagers who knew and loved his dad.

He said: “It’s been a very, very hard time. Dad was just an exceptional person and I don’t know anyone he met whose heart he didn’t touch.

“Ninety five years is a good innings but what upsets us more is that we knew he had a good few years left in him.”

He said the family had received an “overwhelming” number of tributes from residents and businesses alike, whose lives Mr Moody had touched.

He said: “With the tributes that we’ve seen, all the flowers and cards outside Wilcox Limousines, as well as the cards we’ve received here, the text messages, the outpouring of grief throughout the village – I’m absolutely gobsmacked and shocked, I didn’t realise he was so loved in the village.”

Mr Moody, who was in the navy on battleship HMS Anson in the second World War, moved to the village with his wife and four sons to the village around 16 years ago. After losing their mum in 2003, Alan said his father looked after him and his three brothers John, Brian and Ken.

He said: “He’s just that sort of person. He was so generous of heart and spirit and he just gave himself to people. I subsequently found out he helped so many other people at his age – doing the shopping for some, running around for some.”

READ MORE HERE: Villagers pay tribute to 95-year-old Ernie Moody killed in car crash

Speaking about how the family was coping, Alan said: “Everybody is heartbroken. None of us are handling it that well. He was the heart and soul of the family.”

Mr Moody also doted on his grandson, visiting Alan’s house two to three times a day to see Jaden, and went to watch him play football almost every week.

Alan said: “I’ve been breaking my heart since Monday because he was my best friend – my very, very best friend my dad. He just lived for me and my boy. We were his guiding light and he was ours.

“It’s so tragic – I didn’t think he’d go this way. To see him the way I did on Monday – it’s changed my life, I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again, I’ll never forget that.

“He was a lovely, beautiful man – an absolute angel. Now he’s with the angels and hopefully his spirit is here with us, I know it is, I can feel it. But I’ll miss that tap, tap at the door every day.

“I’ll never meet anybody in my life like him. Now I’ve just got to be a better man like he was and raise my son the same way.”

BFP readers who knew Mr Moody also paid tribute, calling him a “fun, caring man”, “true legend”, “always the life and soul of the party” and a “colourful character”.