Actor and TV star Warwick Davis in surprise visit to Horsham garden centre

The Star Wars and Harry Potter legend was at Newbridge Nurseries in Broadbridge Heath with his parents and sister – and no-one was more delighted to see him than garden centre manager Steve Nicholls.

"He’s the nicest person you could possibly meet,” said Steve, who revealed he was a long-term fan. And he was far from alone among the garden centre’s staff and customers.

"David Essex, Jodie Kidd and Alan Carr come in here quite often,” said Steve, “bit no-one gets as much attention as Warwick got.”

The actor – who was at the garden centre to celebrate his sister’s birthday – chatted to staff and customers, signed autographs and posed for selfies.

And Steve revealed he almost missed the occasion. “Yesterday was my day off and I was down in Worthing with my daughter. We were sitting in an ice cream parlour and my visual merchandiser rang me and said Warwick was in there.”

Steve decided to stop off at the garden centre on his way home – and was delighted to find that Warwick was still there in the centre’s Origins Patisserie.

Patisserie manager Morjan Schepers later revealed that Warwick’s parents were regular customers at the patisserie – but she had been unaware of who they were.

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Meanwhile, Steve was delighted to have a chat with the star about his films. “I’m the same age as him and know all the things he’s done in his career,” said Steve. “I was brought up on Willow and all the Star Wars films.”