THE devastated father of tragic Big Issue seller Ralph Millward has told how he never stopped loving his son.

Ralph Millward, 41, was found dead outside Marks and Spencer in Westbourne last Friday morning.

Ken Millward, who has lived alone in Boscombe since the death of Ralph’s mum three years ago, said he and his wife never stopped loving him although “Ralph was not an ideal son”.

Mr Millward, 76, told the Daily Echo much of their son’s life was blighted by alcohol abuse. And he said that when police officers turned up at his retirement flat on Friday morning to inform him of Ralph’s death, he asked them: “It’s Ralph isn’t it – what’s he done now?”

Mr Millward added: “He broke his mother’s and my heart. He lost his job and relationships through drink and he had a lot of money off us.

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“There comes a point when you have to say ‘Enough, no more’ but we never stopped loving him. You can only do so much but not a day went by when we didn’t think about him.”

Mr Millward said he and his wife, Audrey, did their best for their son during his childhood in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

“He was not a bad kid. When he left school he came to work with me in the Dunlop factory as a machine operator but he eventually lost that job through drink,” he said.

“We moved to Bournemouth 14 years ago and he followed us about a year later – that was when he first started living on the streets.

“Unfortunately it got to the point where if I saw him coming down the street I would go into a shop until he passed because there was nothing else we could do.”

Mr Millward said he has been moved by the many tributes to his son and added: “The police could not have been more helpful.”

He said he has been unable to make funeral arrangements due to the police investigation but added: "I just wish I could get it over with as soon as possible because it is so upsetting.

“My only family now is a brother-in-law in Staffordshire."