LILY Bonner, the fruit and veg matriach of Walthamstow Market, has died.

Mrs Bonner passed away at her Walthamstow home shortly after eating a hearty breakfast last Thursday.

Her son David said he was "totally overwhelmed" by the reaction of stallholders and customers to the sad news.

The Bonner family's links with the market go back more than a century, and David is convinced the family had traded there longer than any other.

He said the fruit and veg stall run by Lily and her late husband George was the first to be licensed and stood at No 1 High Street.

"Lily used to stand at the top of the market selling flowers from a basket when she was just seven.

"Her mum and dad had flower stalls in the market for years. So did their parents. She met my dad, whose parents had fruit and veg stalls in the market, and when they married she went from flowers to fruit," he said.

As well as running five stalls in the market, George and Lily Bonner had five children David, George, Barry, Lily and Sharon.

George Sr died in 1952 when he was 44 and Lily had to carry on alone.

"Mum took over and kept us all going. She ruled with a rod of iron, but she had a heart of gold. She really was an iron fist in a velvet glove," David said.

He recalled that Lily was an expert at the market patter and could yell "ripe bananas" and "get your apples here" as good as any man, and she often gave pieces of fruit to children.

"I reckon she gave away more fruit than she sold," said David. "She was a real character, well known by everyone.

"Although she was in her 70s, she still came down to the market every Saturday just to make sure everything was okay. She gave us a right telling off if things didn't seem right."

David said the family decided to keep their stalls open last Saturday as a mark of respect to Lily.

"Mum would have hated it if we packed up and stopped trading because she wasn't there," he said.

The thoughts, condolences and sheer amount of sympathy shown by people on Saturday rocked the Bonner family.

"Stallholders were crowding round us as we were pulling the stall out at 6.30am. People were coming up to us all day long. They hugged us, said how sorry they were to hear she had died and how they were going to miss her. It was unbelievable," he said.

Although the whole family were touched by the show of emotion, the events of the day proved almost too much for them.

"It was wonderful to know that so many people cared, but it was all very emotional and it was the longest day of my life," said David.

A funeral procession on Wednesday (yesterday) wound its way along the High Street before taking Lily to her final restingplace at Chingford Cemetery.