FORMER Witney mayor Peter Green, who raised thousands for charity and led the campaign for a skate park in the town, has died aged 71.

Mr Green was mayor in 2004/05 and a popular figure in the area until he moved to the Philippines with his wife seven years ago.

He set up a 'Village to Village Fund' following the Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 for people in Witney, Cassington and surrounding areas to contribute to.

He fought tirelessly for funding for the skate park at The Leys, which is still used by hundreds of people today.

His older brother David said this was one of his proudest achievements.

Residents rushed to pay tribute to the 'total gent' on social media, praising his kindness as a councillor, a boss, a neighbour and a friend.

After a battle with cancer he died in the Philippines, where he had moved with his wife Edna, on July 30.

The father-of-two was first elected as a West Oxfordshire district councillor in May 2002, winning one of three available seats in the Witney South ward, and held a seat until 2008.

In April 2005, in his last month as mayor, he resigned from the Conservative Party after six years and announced he would stand as an independent candidate for election to Oxfordshire County Council – a contest he was unsuccessful in.

He said he no longer felt he could represent the town properly as a member of a political party.

At the time he said: "I just feel more comfortable being an independent.

"I'm not out to stir trouble with the Conservatives or Labour or the Liberal Democrats, I've spoken to [West Oxfordshire] council leader Barry Norton and Witney MP David Cameron and they've been absolutely charming."

Following the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, which devastated large parts of South Asia, Mr Green set up a 'Village to Village Fund' so that Witney and its surrounding areas could raise money for those impacted.

Less than two years later – and thanks also to the Rotary Club – it had raised enough to help bring fresh water back to the village of Filadhoo in the Maldives.

Peter Green was born in Highgate, London in 1945 to parents Kitty and Walter Green and grew up in the area with his older brother David.

He went to St Michael's Primary School in Highgate and then William Grimshaw Secondary Modern.

His first job was as a postman before he moved to Witney and met his future wife Edna.

He was the manager of Unwins off-licence in the town for more than 20 years, working 12-hour days, seven days a week, and the couple lived above the shop.

They had two children, Robert and Natalie.

Outside of work and the political sphere his brother David said he had an interest in travelling the world, once cycling around the coast of South Africa alone, and restoring old cars.