REGULARS at Jack Hindley’s local pub have placed flowers on the stool where he sat at the end of the bar.

The 61-year-old, who was killed crossing the road in Moor Lane on Saturday night, was well-loved at The Griffin pub in Great Moor Street, where friends described him as a “belting bloke who was the salt of the earth”.

Mr Hindley, who lived on his own in a flat in Bromwich Street, The Haulgh, had been drinking in The Griffin earlier on Saturday night, before heading to another of his regular haunts, The Albion in Moor Lane.

It was after leaving the second pub that he was hit, crossing the road on his crutches.

The Griffin landlord Dave Trow said: “He was well loved in the pub and you can see by the flowers on his stool.

“That was his seat, no one dared sit there.

“He was a genuine guy and never did anyone any harm.”

Mr Trow said Mr Hindley used crutches after having an operation on his foot some years ago.

Before that, he had worked on fairgrounds for 30 years.

David Calderbank, aged 72, had been chatting with Mr Hindley on the night he died. He said: “He was a belting bloke. He’d worked all his life.

“He was a real grafter, salt of the earth.”

Police were called to Moor Lane at 11.45pm on Saturday.

The car, a silver Vauxhall Vectra, hit Mr Hindley but then failed to stop at the scene.

A car believed to be the one involved in the collision later returned to the scene.

Two men, aged 23 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and bailed until June 16.

Anyone with information should call the road policing unit at Leigh on 0161 856 7201.