A MAN who flew the Welshpool banner in headlines around the world in the 1980s as the inventor of Hedgehog Crisps has died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 74.

Phillip Lewis devised the crisp flavour as a joke from an old gypsy story of baked hedgehogs, using pork fat and herbs and selling them in printed brown paper bags while he was landlord of the former Vaults public house in Welshpool.

The idea drew media attention from all over the world and also led to a clash with trading standards which ended in court over the lack of any real hedgehog in the crisps.

Mr Lewis hit back, legitimising the Hedgehog brand and flavour, helping create a synthetic flavour and going into proper mass production with the Bensons crisps company in South Wales.

Hedgehog Foods followed with more crisp flavours and flavoured spreads with a base on the Welshpool industrial estate, with licensing in Canada and other countries, before the Hedgehog Crisps label was bought out.

Mr Lewis returned to his former career as a French teacher, with a time at Welshpool High School and he later moved to live in France.

He leaves five children and five grandchildren including eldest daughter Claire Lewis who told the County Times this week: “Dad died peacefully in his sleep at home. He has been retired for 10 years dividing his time between homes in France and in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

“It was all very sudden and unexpected and we are all devastated. He would have enjoyed being regarded as a prominent person in Welshpool history, as right to the end he always had a big smile on his face and was full of jokes and good humour and we are going to miss him a lot. He had also continued to play the flute and chess, which were among his loves,” said Claire.

A family funeral near Ludlow is being organised for next Friday, March 3.