TRIBUTES have been paid to a long-standing community activist and Dodington Parish Councillor who died last week at the age of 95.

Cllr Cliff Phelps passed away unexpectedly but peacefully last Tuesday after spending an enjoyable afternoon with his granddaughter.

He was believed to have been one of the oldest parish councillors in the country before his passing, having first taken a post in 1999.

His long-term colleague and friend Cllr Paul Hulbert said: "We shall miss him, his deep local knowledge and his great sense of humour.

“It was always a pleasure being at a meeting with Cliff. If he disagreed with something he wouldn't be afraid to say so, but he would always be prepared to listen to the other side of an issue."

Cliff was born in Bristol on June 14, 1921, and worked at Bristol Aeroplane Company before joining the RAF and serving as a pilot in combat in Syria and Lebanon in the early 1940s.

When he was demobbed, he joined Gloucestershire Constabulary and came to live in the Chipping Sodbury district in 1957.

He was well known in the area due to his incredible community activisim, which included forming the Sodbury Vale Musical Comedy Club, being a patron of the Sodbury Players and the Court Players, and being a school governor at two local primary schools.

After retiring from the police force, he became an Animal Health Inspector for what is now South Gloucestershire Council, meaning he was also known in more rural areas. 

He was a keen member of the Sodbury Vale Lodge of the Masons, which he joined in 1974.

Philip Lee, a close friend of Cliff’s within the Masons, said: “Cliff was an amazing person who was a fount of local knowledge and a real joy to be around.

“He had both of his legs amputated, but he never let his disability get in his way and was the sort of person who was always caring for other people. He was a great inspiration to us all.”

Cliff joined Dodington Parish Council after his wife Kathleen died.

As a keen brass band fan, he was the council’s representative on the Dodington Parish Band and was also a member of the Joint Cycleway Group, where he brought disability concerns to the design of cycle tracks.

Although he was a wheelchair user following a double leg amputation, he never let his disability get in the way of taking part in the community.

In an interview in 2016, he said: “I have always enjoyed helping people and being with people.

"I have always been associated with the community, I was never stuck in a factory but was always out and about, so when I was asked to join the parish council I jumped at it.

"I try to help and would much rather do that than be stuck inside being lonely. And I can’t be lonely with these people around me.”