Datchet eccentric Captain Maurice Seddon dies

A well-known village eccentric and 'electronics genius' has died at the age of 88.

Captain Maurice Seddon lived for more than 50 years in Holmlea Road, Datchet, latterly with numerous barking dogs running wild in his garden.

He insisted he needed them for protection - but the noise led the Royal Borough to get a court order against him.

But the captain remaining defiantly in his chaotic home, which was filled with the debris of decades.

The showdown finally ended four years ago when he was taken ill and moved to a care home. He died suddenly last night.

His friend Datchet parish councillor Ewan Larcombe remembered how Captain Seddon used to fit television sets and audio systems in peoples' homes, travelling the village in his gas fuelled Rolls.

He described him as an 'electronics genius, a tremendous guy, a one off'.

Ewan said: "He pioneered electrically heated clothes used by everyone from hillwalkers to spacemen and travelled the world promoting the idea."

The captain was educated at Gordonstoun School and served for years with the Royal Corps of Signals, which stationed him Germany in 1945. Half German himself thanks to his concert pianist mother, he spoke the language perfectly.