An indispensable ‘Mr Fixit’ has been thanked by the charity he supports with a surprise birthday party.

Brian Davis turned 70 last month and was rewarded for his reliability and inability to say no by Tavistock Area Support Services (TASS).

His expertise is often called on for urgent repairs at the charity’s HQ next to the town’s bus station. He has even helped fix the occasional vehicle, used by the charity to give essential lifts to people with mobility problems.

Although Brian is paid for a certain limited number of hours a week, he does not seem to count the time he spends at work and by all accounts, regularly exceeds his allotted working week.

Holly Stirling, TASS manager, said: “I am personally very grateful to Brian for his dedication, although he does work for us, he actually seems to like to carry out all sorts of jobs, sometimes voluntarily. The charity as a whole and his colleagues are indebted to him for keeping us going when we have breakdowns, power cuts, leaks and anything that keeps the building safe and watertight.

“I remember two years ago, in my first week, I caused a problem by fusing something and cutting off the power – Brian was soon on the job and we were back to normal. On another time we were having a meeting when water started dripping from above us onto the table – again Brian came and shot up into the loft and sorted the hole in the roof slates.

“We can’t do without him, not only is he effectively always on-call, he helps save us a lot of expensive emergency call-out fees – as a charity that’s vital.”

Brian said: “I really get a lot of job satisfaction helping TASS in their hour of need and with maintenance jobs which saves them problems in the long term. After all, it’s a charity and they can’t afford to keep calling companies. And if I do extra hours, then I see it as very important for the essential work they do for many people in need. You never know, I might need TASS support myself one day.”