A pensioner has marvelled at the generosity of his friends and fellow patrons at a Hampton pub after they clubbed together to buy him a new mobility chair.

Christopher Soden, of Stanbrook Close, Hampton, was presented with the new chair by friends at the Court Jester Pub, in Tangeley Park Road, after fellow drinkers held a whip round.

Mr Soden suffers from severe emphysema, a lung condition which had made walking almost impossible, and he said he noticed a sharp deterioration in his condition after his wife of 40 years died in June.

The 69-year-old, who has been a patron of the Court Jester for more than 13 years, said: “The doctor said that my emphysema got worse because of anxiety after my wife died. It got to the point where it was taking me 45 minutes to get dressed in the morning and I couldn't walk at all.

“I had to start nicking a trolley from Sainsbury's to get around.

“But the chair has been my lifesaver. I can now get around really quickly and easily and do things that I couldn't before, like get my shopping home.”

Gordon Williams - described by Christopher as a “diamond”- appointed himself chief collector of the £840 needed to buy the chair.

Mr Williams, of Coombe Road, jokingly declared that his tactic for raising the funds was to tell people to “put a hand in a pocket and pull out a fiver”- and, whether true or not, the 73-year-old succeeded in raising the full amount in just two weeks.

And the cash raised for Mr Soden’s chair is just one of many collections that the patrons of the Court Jester have organised to help those in need A couple of years ago, another mobility chair was bought for a patron whose previous chair had been stolen by youths, and a computer was bought for a young girl who had Motor Neurone Disease.

Tony Cattemull, manager of the pub, said: “The clientele here are very community orientated and they are never shy to dip into their pockets.”