TRIBUTES have been paid to the man who opened the first Chinese takeaway in St Helens.

Chu Fai Chow, who has died aged 85, launched The Red Flower on North Road in November 1969.

Five years earlier he had took over one of the last remaining Chinese laundries in the area.

After opening the Red Flower, it became a popular and established part of the town's food scene, with a restaurant also opening in 1989.

Mr Chow passed away peacefully at home on November 3.

He leaves behind wife So King and children Charlie, Wendy, Mandy and Andrew, eight grandchildren and was also dad to the late Michael.

Mr Chow came to St Helens in 1963 with his wife and oldest son Charlie.

He came from The Red Flower village, Tai San in the Guangdong province of China. To pay homage to his home village, the takeaway was named The Red Flower.

A "fitting" funeral celebrating different cultures was held at GreenAcres in Rainford before burial at St Helens Cemetery.

His son Charlie, who runs Mr Chan's restaurant and takeaway, now called Charlie Chan's Oriental Express, paid tribute to his dad and the legacy he has left in the town.

He said: "It was the first takeaway in St Helens and it changed the course of history.

"There are so many takeaways and restaurants in this town and we were the first and are still here. I'd like to think that he set the standard for Chinese food in St Helens."

Charlie, 64, added: "He worked so hard in his life and sacrificed a lot of things. We were very poor in China and he came here with nothing. St Helens gave him an opportunity to survive.

"He was a hard-working man dedicated to his family and proud to be and thankful to be part of the St Helens community, establishing his family home in the town."