The family of a former Barrhead barber have told of their heartache after he died from coronavirus.

Jim Taylor cut the hair of several generations of families during his 63-year career.

He died from Covid-19 on Sunday after being admitted to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in late October with an unrelated medical condition.

Jim, who was 79, became a barber in 1957 at the age of 16, following in the footsteps of his dad James snr.

In 1967, he took over the family business and ran Taylor’s Hairdressers in the town’s Main Street – now Almond Blossom flower shop – until his retirement in 2004.

His son Kevin, 48, said: “Dad was a kind, considerate and humble man who loved Barrhead and it’s people.

“Every Tuesday he would take a day off work to go and cut the hair of elderly and infirm customers who couldn’t get out the house.

“He also did that for 16 years after his retirement and he was still doing haircuts at their homes until early last year.

“My grandfather opened his first shop in the early 1920s and dad carried on that tradition after he died.”

Jim, married to his sweetheart Mary for 57 years, was also a keen member of the Knights of St Columba, based in Darnley Road.

Kevin, who works as a site manager, added: “My father was a very friendly and sociable person. He was more than a barber to his customers – he was also a friend.”

Jim, who contracted Covid earlier this month, also ran a women’s salon in the back of his shop and was a keen member of the dominoes team at the nearby Flying Horse pub.

“My dad was more a traditional, old school barber but he survived all the changes in fashion over the years,” said Kevin.

“He enjoyed what he did. Barbering and Barrhead was his life.”

As well as Mary, 77, and Kevin, Jim is survived by his 55-year-old son Jim, who lives in New Zealand, and daughter Lesley Anne Stewart, 51, as well as seven grandchildren.

Kevin added: “I’d like to thank the nurses and doctors at Ward 14 of the RAH for the care they gave my father.”

Funeral arrangements have yet to be confirmed but the service will be restricted to close family and friends due to lockdown restrictions.