Tulips from Amsterdam are flowering in Braintree thanks to the son of legendary entertainer Max Bygraves.

Anthony Bygraves donated 500 of the plants to Braintree and Bocking Public Gardens in November in memory of his father and his mother Gladys.

He said: “About 99 per cent have come up. I didn’t realise there were wild deer around and a few of them have been eaten.

“They look very colourful, apparently they will come back for two or three years into the future.”

Anthony, who lives in Braintree, set up the Max Bygraves Tulip Fund in 2013 to plant tulips at retirement homes across the country, in homage to his father’s 1958 hit Tulips from Amsterdam.

Tulip bulbs are also sold to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.

Max had battled the illness before his death, aged 89, in 2012.

To donate to the fund visit justgiving.com/maxbygravescharitysingle.