A GP who practised in Abingdon for more than 30 years has died at the age of 91.

It was only by chance that Dr Philip Barwood, who ran a surgery in Stert Street with Dr Patrick Vivian, came to Abingdon. After recovering from TB contracted during the Second World War, Dr Barwood and his wife Phyllis settled in the town after he was advised not to work in London because of his poor health.

One of his three daughters, Felicity Barwood, said: "He saw there was a practice in Abingdon for sale and he and my mother moved to the town in 1946.

"He enjoyed his long stay in Abingdon and made many friends. He was highly respected in the town and was regarded as a very conscientious doctor who never refused a visit."

Dr Barwood was born in Norwich and won a scholarship to Cambridge at the early age of 15.

After graduating he went on to Barts Hospital in London, where he qualified as a doctor.

During the war, he was a doctor in the RAF and served in North Africa and Italy, a country for which he built up an abiding fondness. Towards the end of the war, he was diagnosed with TB and convalesced at RAF Wroughton, near Swindon, where he was nursed by his future wife, the daughter of a doctor.

On his retirement at 67, Dr and Barwood and his wife moved to Bagley Wood, near Kennington, and later Milton. His wife died three years ago and for the last 18 months Dr Barwood lived in a nursing home near Towcester. He is survived by five of his six children, 11 grandchildren and three great- grandchildren.

His funeral service will be on Monday at 11am at St Nicolas Church in Abingdon followed by burial at Milton cemetery next to his wife.