TRIBUTES have been paid to the “dedicated” vice-chairman of West Hanney Parish Council who has died at the age of 81.

Tony Day served on the council for more than 25 years, “sparring” with planning officers in a fight to save the village from “rogue” developments.

He died on Saturday, May 18, at Sobell House hospice in Oxford, following a short illness.

Parish council chairman Chris Surman said: “His biggest love was West Hanney, he was so determined to stop the rural ideal being ruined.

“He loved nature and trees, and if he saw anyone cutting a tree down he would be furious and go and find out why it was being done.

“He was dedicated to village life.”

Mr Day was born in Abingdon, which at the time was in the county of Berkshire, on November 29, 1931.

He went to the Convent School in Abingdon before transferring to Southfield Grammar in Oxford.

Leaving school at 18 he gained an apprenticeship at Morris Motors, and then took a job at the MG car company, Abingdon.

His first job there was taking responsibility for the return and further development of a specially-developed MG that had achieved a new world speed record of 254 mph on the Utah Flats in America.

After the MG factory closed he became a training consultant specialising in the supervision of youngsters, which involved considerable travel, often to Wales, a country which he loved.

It was on holiday near Tenby in Wales that he met his future wife Mollie Briscoe, from Birmingham, and they married on June 14, 1963.

Choosing to start their married life in West Hanney, they lived in a caravan while converting an old barn into their home. They had no children.

Mollie said she has fond memories of this work, such as sitting at one end of the roof with her husband at the other, throwing the old thatch down.

After retirement he joined the parish council.

Mr Surman said: “Tony’s views did not always go down well with fellow councillors, but he would stick to his opinions even if he lost.

“He especially enjoyed sparring with members of the local authority planning team, but always on the basis of respect for the decisions that had to be made.”

Mr Day’s funeral service will be held at St James the Great Church, in West Hanney, tomorrow at 12.45pm.