NINETY two years ago today one of Southampton's most famous sons was born.

Benny Hill would have been celebrating his bumper birthday - nearly a century after he was born in Upper Shirley as Alfred Hill.

The comedy icon, who counted Michael Jackson and Charlie Chaplin among his fans, was known for The Benny Hill Show.

He attended Taunton's School and began his working life in Eastleigh - holding jobs at Woolworths in Leigh Road, as a milkman at Hanns Dairy in Factory Road, now Wells Place, as a bridge operator, a driver and a drummer.

His exploits as an Eastleigh milkman brought the town more fame when he mentioned Market Street in his 1971 chart-topping song about Ernie, The Fastest Milkman in the West.

After decades of television fame the star, formerly known as Alfred Hawthorn Hill, died at home on April 18, 1992 - aged 68.

But Benny Hill, who was buried in Hollybrook Cemetery, still lives on in Hampshire with tributes to him across Southampton and Eastleigh including a road bearing his name, a plaque at Hanns Dairy and a memorial garden at Richard Taunton's Sixth Form College - and of course, viewers across the world still tune in to repeats of his shows.