ERIC Halsall, famous as the voice of TV's One Man and His Dog, has died aged 77.

Expert knowledge of sheepdogs earned Burnley-born Mr Halsall the 14-year spell as commentator on the BBC2 programme.

He was also an authority on countryside and farming topics and a respected writer and journalist.

He became sheepdog trials correspondent for the Farmers' Guardian in 1959 and had several books published between 1961 and 1996.

He died in Burnley General Hospital, where he had been a patient for a month. He leaves a wife, Rita. A funeral service at St John's Church, Worsthorne, on Monday at 12.40pm, will be followed by cremation at Burnley.

A member of numerous organisations and charities, Mr Halsall wrote more than 1,500 articles for the Burnley Express since 1949. His Country Notes column ran for more than 30 years.

A member of the International Sheep Dog Society since 1949 and a national sheepdog trials judge, Mr Halsall was also president of the Burnley branch of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Assoc- iation.

He was a founder member of Holme Sheepdog Trials Association and was secretary of the Derbyshire Gritstone Sheepbreeders Society. He lived all his life in this area.

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