A POPULAR council worker died of cancer days before a fundraising football match in aid of the hospice where he was spending his last days.

Malcolm Shotton, 56, of Annfield Plain, near Stanley, County Durham, was looking forward to being at yesterday’s event at Chester-le- Street’s Riverside despite his terminal illness.

He lost his fight for life on Tuesday night but the match went ahead as planned.

Colleagues at Chesterle- Street District Council staged the game to raise money for St Cuthbert’s Hospice, in Durham, where Mr Shotton had been an in-patient.

Mr Shotton worked for the now-defunct council for many years, many of them as a litterpicker, and was well-known around the district.

His partner Mavis Clark said: “That’s all he was talking about, going on Friday and seeing the football match.

“He was diagnosed in October and told five weeks ago that there was nothing more they could do for him.

“He had only been in the hospice a week. It was really quick. They had been going to let him home for a few weeks.

“He was very popular, working for Chester-le- Street council for a lot of years.’’ Event organiser Jason Storey, who works at the Roseberry Grange Golf Course, West Pelton, said of Mr Shotton: “He was a solid bloke who would do anything for anybody. He would have wanted the fun day to go ahead.’’ Mr Storey said he was astounded by the generosity of the businesses approached to donate prizes. He hopes that the event will become an annual occasion.