THE family of a much-loved Herefordshire restaurateur are raising money for the hospice where he died.

They are selling fruit tarts in memory of Pascal Clarenne to support St Michael's Hospice, Hereford.

Mr Clarenne was well known and liked in Ledbury, where ran his own cafe for 14 years.

He started making and selling the tarts while he was being cared for at the hospice.

His daughter, Sophie, said: "Now my father has passed, his wish was for his wife and daughter was to carry on his legacy.

"We are going to be making and selling tarts across Herefordshire with flavours including pear, apricot, peach, almond, plum and raspberry and mixed fruit.

"We will have a gluten-free option cake, and a savoury quiches such as leek and brie."

Mr Clarenne died at the hospice on Wednesday, April 7.

His wife, Janie, said of his passion and determination: “His pastry kept him going. It was an absolute passion and he loved it. He had great spirit and just kept fighting.”

Mr Clarenne, who used to own Chez Pascal in New Street, Ledbury, reached a number of life landmarks after his business closed last summer, including his 60th birthday in January and his 30th wedding anniversary in March.

On Valentine’s Day, while he was at home following the first of two stays in the hospice, he was able to make and send out 20 tarts to loyal customers who had missed the special Pascal Clarenne touch.

Sadly, he was not able to achieve his ambition of returning to his native France for one more visit, despite a crowd-funding campaign that raised £6,000.

The Covid crisis and increasingly poor health meant that he could not travel, but some of the funds were used “to bring France to him”, with a visit from his sister, brother and nephew last August, when there was an easing of Covid restrictions.

Mrs Clarenne said: “We had a really nice week.”

Some of the remaining funds will be used to send half his ashes to Mr Clarenne’s sister at Biarritz in France, while the other half of his ashes will remain in Herefordshire.

Mr Clarenne grew up in northern France, near the French border, and he trained in patisserie at Charleville-Mézières.

He and his wife ran their cafe in Ledbury for a decade, originally running Cafe Sez in the High Street before relocating to the former Malthouse restaurant, renaming it Chez Pascal in 2013.

In 2017 they moved again, this time setting up shop in the former Delilah's Cafe in New Street, until the summer of 2020, when Mr Clarenne revealed his battle with metastatic lung cancer.

In recent years Chez Pascal had lent its support to local initiatives, including the Big Breakfast, which saw many cafes and restaurants showcase the best of local food and drink.

Announcing the closure of Chez Pascal last August, Mr Pascal said: “We have weathered a few storms over the years and with increasing competition in the town business has been tough.

"This year, with the flooding and the coronavirus it has been a challenge.

"However, after a recent admission with pneumonia, I have been diagnosed with cancer and we decided to close to concentrate on my treatment. Call it early retirement."