Blue plaque unveiled in honour of Mott the Hoople singer in Oswestry

A blue plaque has been installed at the house where Mott the Hoople lead singer Ian Hunter was born in Oswestry.

The plaque was unveiled on York Street on Saturday by the town's mayor, councillor Jonathan Upton, and Hunter's eldest grandson, Jay Patterson.

In a video message shared by the town council, Hunter, who now lives in Connecticut in the US and was unable to attend the unveiling in person, thanked the organisers and said it was a "surprise and an honour".

"I'm still a Shropshire lad at heart," he told fans. "I'm eternally grateful for your love and your support - it's been 50 odd years, when you're 87, you do need a little support."

The plaque installation had been organised by councillor Duncan Kerr after permission was granted by Oswestry Town Council.

Formed in Herefordshire in the 1960s, Mott the Hoople's best-remembered single is 1972 hit All The Young Dudes, written by David Bowie.

The band split in 1974, but have reformed on a number of occasions for tours and live gigs.

Patterson, who himself is also a musician, said he was surprised by the number of people who turned out to attend the unveiling.

The round plaque, which features a lyric from Hunter's 1976 track Irene Wilde, "gonna be somebody someday", meant a "huge amount" to the family, he said.

"Growing up, we always knew who my granddad was, he was just pops to all of us. But then, obviously, when you have days like today, it really does just go to show how much of a legend he was and how much he's loved by his fans," Patterson explained.

"To have something commemorate not just his career, but his life and where he was born, it's a massive thing for us as a family."

Kerr, who is also a Mott the Hoople fan, said he was passionate about smaller towns celebrating "legends" who were born there.

"I just think it's powerful to walk past a plaque on a wall and say, ‘here's somebody who almost conquered the world, certainly conquered America, who was born on your street’," the green councillor added.

"I think the town benefits from that, tourism benefits from that, but I think young people benefit from that as well."

Some fans had travelled to the event from as far as Kent, Swansea and Stoke-on-Trent, Kerr said.

"[Hunter] meant a lot to them. He touched a lot of people's lives and they wanted to come and pay their respects back to him and it's lovely to do that when he's still alive," he added.

One fan, Sean Stewart, who travelled from Nantwich, added Hunter had been part of his musical life since he was about six or seven years old.

"Ever since then I've just always had Ian Hunter's music in my bones. It's just always worked for me."

Graham Jones, who travelled from Lichfield, said it was Hunter's musicianship and lyrics that had appealed to him most.

"I think the overall quality of his own musicianship and the quality of the musicians he surrounded himself with, but it was the lyrical content really that got me in the first place," he said.

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