A MUCH-LOVED barman died after being hit by a car while on holiday in Miami.

Roger Galvin was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries on January 27 after he was struck as he tried to cross the road.

He died later that day.

The 61-year-old Southwick resident worked at The Neptune Inn in Victoria Terrace, Hove.

His manager and close friend Mary Charmont-Pike said: “In the pub trade you get real characters.

“Roger did it in his own quiet way, but he was definitely a character.

“You won’t get many like him to the pound.”

Mary revealed this holiday was his first in 14 years.

During his last holiday in Tenerife, 14 years ago, Roger was the victim of a criminal gang.

Mary said: “I met him out there and he had been mugged with every bone in his face broken.

“They left him for dead in the street directly outside his hotel.”

Roger was put on life support for a month, and had to wait a further three weeks before he was able to travel home.

Mary said: “This was his first holiday since then.

“He hadn’t even been there for two hours when it happened.”

Now, The Neptune Inn has set up a GoFundMe page called Roger’s Funeral Fund to raise money to get Roger’s body home and contribute to the cost of his funeral.

It has currently raised more than £1,150 of its £6,000 total.

Mary said: “The Neptune is an older pub so a lot of the regulars have been coming in and putting money towards it at the bar.

“Everybody loved Roger, and he will definitely be missed.

“I want to maintain his standards of cleaning the lines and keeping the beer, and give him the send-off he deserves.”

Roger moved down to Brighton in 1996 and began working at The Portland in Hove.

It was here he met Mary and they became close friends.

They worked together for 13 years.

Mary said: “I got the offer to be the manager at the Neptune but said, ‘only if I can take Roger with me’.”

The pair had worked together at the bar for the last eight years.

Mary said: “He could come across as a bit grumpy if you didn’t know him, but he was a lovely soul.

“When my friend first met him she said, ‘he’s a bit of a grumpy old git’, but when you got to know him he was was one of the funniest people you have ever met in your life.”

Roger would host and perform at stand-up comedy nights at the pub, including a Tommy Cooper impression, to raise money for the RNLI.

Mary said: “He couldn’t swim and didn’t really like the water. In all the time I knew him and we went on holiday together he didn’t even take his socks off to paddle.

“He would say, ‘we live by the sea, it seems appropriate’.”

He was also an avid Brighton and Hove Albion fan, and would often go to watch the team’s home games.

Mary described Roger as old school, saying he never took sick days and was hesitant to take holidays.

She said: “He was a simple man living a simple uncomplicated life. An absolute character and loved by so many.”