A POPPY appeal veteran could be about to hang up his tin after 65 years.

Keith Shoat, 86, has become a familiar sight in Braintree in the run-up to Remembrance Day.

He has been out collecting for the Royal British Legion in all weathers since 1955.

Last November big-hearted shoppers helped him collect £1,670.74 for the appeal.

Over the decades he has raised more than £20,000 for the Braintree branch of the Royal British Legion.

“I stand out all day in George Yard,” said Mr Shoat, of Keeble Way.

“People bring me cups of tea and feed me.

“I will have been doing it for 65 years this year.

“But I think I will make this my last year. I think I’ve done my share for the Poppy Appeal.”

Mr Shoat raised two pounds, six shillings and tuppence in his first year as a collector.

The most he ever raised was £3,195.79 in 2018, which smashed his previous record of just over £2,000, set the year before.

This year he filled seven collection pots, wrapped up in his trademark hi-vis jacket and woolly hat.

“One even had a £50 note in it,” said Mr Shoat, who was brought up in a Barnardo’s home and went on to work at Black Notley Hospital.

Brother Douglas signed up for the Army when he was 16 so Mr Shoat jumped at the chance of helping out the armed forces.

He used to sell poppies door to door in Black Notley before switching to Braintree town centre.

Mr Shoat was too young to serve in the Second World War, but still did his bit for the war effort.

“I wasn’t old enough,” he said, “but we used to cut up sheets to make handkerchiefs to send out to the troops.”