TRIBUTES have been paid to a stalwart of the greyhound racing scene who died at a Great Yarmouth race meeting. Gerald 'Nobby' Whiting died at the Yarmouth Stadium just after one of his dogs, Bluebell Velvet, had finished last in a 659m race.

TRIBUTES have been paid to a stalwart of the greyhound racing scene who died at a Great Yarmouth race meeting.

Gerald 'Nobby' Whiting died at the Yarmouth Stadium just after one of his dogs, Bluebell Velvet, had finished last in a 659m race.

Mr Whiting, who was from Hempnall and in his 70s, was a regular at greyhound meetings, known for his south Norfolk drawl and knowledge of the sport.

He regularly went to the Yarmouth track and had hoped that Bluebell Velvet would have completed a hat-trick of wins.

Owner of the stadium, Stephen Franklin, has been going to the track since the 1960s and said that as far back as he could remember Mr Whiting was always there.

Mr Franklin said: “He was such a nice person who kept himself to himself and knew everything there was to know about greyhound racing. It will be very sad to think that Nobby won't be attending Yarmouth greyhound track anymore and won't be celebrating more wins.”

Mr Whiting died while he was washing Bluebell Velvet down in a kennel after her race.

His father was a well-known greyhound trainer and he first became interested in the sport in 1968 after a bookmaker gave him a dog called Irish Surprise.

Mr Whiting once had a dog, Nobby's Boy, that finished fourth in the Greyhound Derby and sold another, Nobby's Butcher, for £2,500 in 1984. He used the money from that deal to build some new kennels.

Mr Whiting spent most of his working career as a delivery driver at Duffield's Mill, at Saxlingham Thorpe.