Tributes have been paid to 102-year-old former police officer Arthur Hanbidge, the island’s oldest pensioner who died on Saturday at the Elder Grange Care Home with his family by his side.

Before he joined the police in 1949, Arthur had served as a corporal in the army during the Second World War, enlisting in 1940 and seeing active service in Europe until he was demobilised in 1946.

Arthur’s career in the police spanned 25 years, with him retiring in February 1974.

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A small gathering for Arthur’s 100th birthday included the Chief Constable Gary Roberts, who gave him a card and cake, and with whom he ‘happily recounted experiences’ of his policing career.

Another memorable reunion for Arthur was with fellow Second World War veteran and former police officer Hector Duff, who died in 2020 aged 101.

The two had served together in the police, and the Isle of Man Constabulary Historian Facebook page said that ‘their eyes sparkled as they recalled various humorous stories’.

The statement continued: ‘Arthur was a devilishly handsome gentleman and, as were so many of his generation, was an absolute gentleman.

‘He will be sorely missed but warmly remembered for an incredibly long life, well-lived.

‘It has been an honour to have known him.’

The Chief Constable said he was ‘kind, interesting and interested, and sharp as a pin’.

‘I know his family were with him when he died and all our thoughts are with them,’ he added, also describing Arthur as ‘a wonderful man’.