HE may have been born and raised in Ashington, but the whole of the North-East felt like Jack Charlton, a World Cup winner with England in 1966, was one of their own.

The older brother of fellow footballing legend Bobby moved to the Tyne Valley with his wife Pat, sons John and Peter and daughter Debbie when managing Middlesbrough in the 1970s, and he was a popular figure throughout the district.

Away from the world of football management, Jack was a keen angler on the River Tyne and he would often work with a group of disabled anglers at Kielder Water.

In 2013, his friends Bill and Helen Logan decided to start the Northumberland Tea business, with 1p from every box sold going to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

When Jack learned about the business venture, he immediately asked what he could do to help and volunteered his services as brand ambassador - free of charge.

Mrs Logan said: "He is going to leave a huge gaping hole in so man people's lives. He was such a charismatic person and everybody just loved him.

"He would have signed thousands of items when we took him out on jobs with us, and he would carry the boxes and always help out, but he never got tired of it and never once refused a photograph or autograph.

"When we started the business he wanted to help and got stuck on the side of the box with the tagline 'the best cup since 1966'. There was never any mention of any money and he obviously knew Sir Bobby well so he was happy he was helping us both."

Six years ago, Jack agreed to be the star guest at the Hexham Courant's Sport Relief Mile at Tynedale Rugby Club, starting off 500 runners at the start line.

The Courant's audience and content editor David Coulter said: "We were grateful to attract such a star name and many people who weren't even running turned up just to see him. He was great with everybody who approached him there, from older people who wanted to talk to him about the World Cup to the many children on the day.

"He made a huge fuss over my two-year-old daughter and even managed to persuade her to give him one of her chips."

Jack was also the guest of honour at the Corbridge Village Show twice.

Eric Peel remembers collecting trophies from him in 2010 and being impressed with Jack's humility.

He said: "We were so proud to have him present at the show and he didn't have any airs or graces, he was just a really nice guy."