A MOTORCYCLE cavalcade will lead hundreds of mourners today in paying tribute to one of Trowbridge's best-known characters.

Friends of Biker Bill, from Newtown, who died of a heart attack last week, say the crowd could top 500 and police are closing the street while the procession goes past.

With his long hair and flowing beard, the 56-year-old biker, whose real name was William Hill, was a prominent member of the biking community, which will be out in force today.

But his hobbies and interests extended far beyond that to include cats, kites and web design.

Mourners will leave the car park at The Ship pub at 10.45am before Mr Hill's body is taken along Newtown to Holy Trinity Church in the UK's only motorcycle hearse.

Mr Hill's sister Cynthia Whittaker travelled from Coventry to organise today's events, which will include an 11am service.

She said: "The police and coroner have been brilliant in arranging things, especially PC Simon Bettles.

"He said, 'Go for it. We'll cone it off and close the road'."

Andrew Pepler, a long-standing friend of Mr Hill's, said: "If you just take three people from everything that Bill was interested in, you would get 300 there on Friday. One guy is fighting for a flight to get over from Australia."

After the service at Holy Trinity Church there will be refreshments in a marquee at The Ship and Mr Hill will be buried in Trowbridge Cemetery.

Mrs Whittaker said: "I'm going to get his favourite tipple, which was Jack Daniels, and I'm going to put a drop in every glass.

"I came to visit Bill in April and he gave me a tour of Trowbridge. You couldn't take a step without people saying 'hello Bill'.

"If he met someone he took them at face value. If they asked for his help he would give it."

Mr Hill trained as a welder at Trowbridge College after moving to the town 20 years ago and had a massive impact on the local area.

Other hobbies included fishing, science fiction, jewellery making, citizens' band radio and building robots.

Mr Pepler said: "We could talk about Bill for hours, he was that diverse a character. I don't think you'll get many people about like him any more.

"Because he was involved in so many different things he had a humungous bubble of people that knew him, everybody from mechanics to musicians.

"He absolutely loved his moggies and he was one of the only people in the UK to successfully breed piranhas. He wasn't aiming for it, he just wanted to keep them."