A DEVASTATED widow said her late husband refused to give up fighting despite being told he had less than a year to live by doctors.

Trevor Wyatt, a popular PCSO in Farnworth, died last month from mesothelioma, caught, the family suspect, when he was exposed to asbestos when completing a plumbing apprenticeship 42 years ago.

Diagnosed in June last year, Mr Wyatt battled on with the incurable disease for 16 months before dying aged 57 on October 7.

Health experts had said he would live for eight to 12 months, but Mr Wyatt refused to surrender prematurely to his fate.

Described as having the "gift of the gab", dad-of-three Mr Wyatt would do "anything for anybody" and survives wife Jeanette, sons George, aged 11, and Thomas, aged 15, as well as 34-year-old daughter Rebecca.

Mrs Wyatt, aged 47, said: "The really upsetting thing is that he has never had a day off in his working life and he gets something so serious.

"The children have been brilliant; they are just doing whatever they can to support me.

"It was a long journey and he kept telling them exactly what was going on and what the ending would be.

"It is just devastating but it is comforting to know that he touched the hearts of so many people."

The youngest of 13 children, Mr Wyatt grew up in Bury and lived in Ramsbottom just prior to his death.

His daughter Rebecca married last December while Mr Wyatt was fit enough to attend the service.

More than 300 people attended the funeral of Mr Wyatt, who joined the police in 2003, last month.

Mrs Wyatt, who married Trevor in 1998 after they met while he worked as a caretaker at Bury College, added: "He was just fun-loving and would do absolutely anything for anybody.

"He never let it get him down and refused to give in right up to the day he died.

"That is what everybody says about him. He just adored his family."

Mr Wyatt's big passion was football and his widow says he could have made it when he was younger but his parents could not afford boots.

Son George currently plays for Manchester United's under-12s.

Sgt Jon Seeds, who worked with Mr Wyatt during his police career, said: "On duty Trevor often struggled to get from one end of the street to the other without being stopped by members of the public for advice or a reassuring chat.

"When Trevor became ill he continued to serve his community and refused to go off sick and even when I restricted him to desk duties he would sneak out of the Police station to go on patrol.

"Throughout his time at Farnworth he built some fundamentally strong friendships with his colleagues who miss him dearly."

An award for Community Support Officer of the Year has now been named after Mr Wyatt in his honour.