A FORMER friend of Roald Dahl has relived his fond memories of the times he spent drinking tea and eating cakes with the famous writer.

Bryan Wilson was friends with Mr Dahl in the 1960s when he ran a shop in Great Missenden and says he spent many happy afternoons in Mr Dahl's garden shed, which was used for writing.

Mr Wilson moved to the area in 1968 and was unaware when he signed the lease to his shop in the High Street that his new landlord was one of the world's most beloved children's authors.

Mr Wilson explains: "I was sitting at the back of my shop and a tall, distinguished looking gentleman came in."

Mr Wilson, who now lives in Maidenhead, says their first meeting could have gone either way because he was slightly late with his first month's rent.

He said: "I thought he could either be serious or humorous. He said to me Are you Bryan Wilson? My name is Roald Dahl and I am your landlord'."

They struck up a friendship after Mr Dahl invited his new tenant to his home for tea in the garden. He was one of the few privileged people to be invited into the shed where Mr Dahl wrote children's classics such as the BFG and The Twits.

Mr Wilson said: "It is great to know that I knew him before he was an icon."