HUNDREDS of mourners gathered outside a Hampshire crematorium to pay their respects to a ‘well loved’ community taxi driver.

David Stewart, of Bishopstoke, passed away in his sleep on June 28 aged 63, with a fleet of taxis turning out for his funeral on Friday.

Mystery surrounds the taxi driver’s death after the family said they might have to wait up to 12 weeks for an inquest.

Dave was on holiday with his friends in Zante last month before returning home and passing away in his sleep a few days later. The family say a post mortem found no cause of death.

Dave had been a taxi driver for 25 years and was also a brick layer, a trade he started when leaving school at 18.

Hundreds paid their respects to the grandfather at the Wessex Vale crematorium yesterday afternoon.

Craig Langdon, partner of Dave’s daughter Natalie said he was an awesome man and will be hugely missed in the community.

Craig, 39, said: “He was just a family man and an awesome person, there’s no other word for it.

“I think it’s because he touched the heart of so many people in his life, he was always like that.

“It was a wonderful sight to see a lot of people at the funeral, he will certainly be hugely missed in Eastleigh and everywhere he went.”

Dave was a lifelong Chelsea fan having been born in London.

Craig added: “He was always down Stamford Bridge cheering on his team. I’m a Saints fan, but we still managed to get on!”

Dave moved to Eastleigh with his parents aged ten and had lived in the area ever since.

Another family member, who didn’t want to be named, said: “He was such a devoted father and grandfather and a loved member of the community.

“You’d struggle to go anywhere and him not run into somebody he knew. People on social media have called him a special person and he definitely was.”

Charlie Anderson, an operations worker at Stewart’s former employer Eastleigh Cabs, said the 63-year-old was ‘well loved’.

Charlie, who has been at the company for five years, said: “He would always help anyone. Dave was well loved and of course a huge Chelsea fan. He loved his work and would do anything for you, he’d even build you a wall if you asked him to!”

£1,000 has been raised for end-of- life care charity Countess Mountbatten Hospice after Dave’s death. His family requested donations instead of flowers from those who paid their respects.