ONE of the stars of Hampshire-based soap blockbuster Howards' Way left more than £500,000 in his will.

Nigel Davenport died in October from pneumonia, aged 85, and it has been revealed he left £500,287 in his will, with the bulk of it going to his children.

He played the aristocratic Sir Edward Frere in the 1980s drama, which was filmed on the shores of the River Hamble and was watched by millions every Sunday.

It followed the lives of members of the upper-crust yachting community in the fictitious south coast town of Tarrant, with the Elephant Boatyard in Old Bursledon being one of the main locations.

Davenport, of Temple Guiting in Gloucestershire, also started in films such as Chariots of Fire and A Man For All Seasons.