LES Horn, a tireless community campaigner and one of the town's most colourful political characters, has died, aged 85.

Friends and colleagues have expressed their sadness over the loss of Mr Horn, who was taken to Great Western Hospital last Monday with kidney problems.

He died on Saturday morning, and since then those who knew of his dedication to the people of Central ward and Broad Street Area Community Council have paid tribute.

Former mayor Mike Bawden first met Les in 1970 during the dirty workers' strike, when the sewage works in Barnfield Road ground to a halt.

They negotiated from different sides of the political spectrum while workers and the council argued over pay and working hours.

"It was a time of crisis in 1970, the lack of work at the sewage works meant the River Thames was being polluted," he said.

"Les was the senior shop steward for the National Union Of Public Employees and I had to meet with him at all times of day and night to try and resolve the dispute.

"What became clear very quickly was that we were strong political opponents, not least when stink bombs were thrown into a council meeting about the row.

"But we formed a very strong personal friendship which carried on for more than 35 years.

"Les was very straight with people he dealt with.

"If he didn't agree with you he would fight tooth and nail to obstruct your plans, but if he thought it was the right thing to do it would be done with no fuss at all.

"He cared deeply for the Broadgreen area of Swindon and was always there at council meetings to make sure that his ward got a fair hearing."

John and Beryl Phillips worked with Les for years on Broad Street Area Community Council.

Beryl will remember the work Les did to tackle prostitution in the area.

She said: "He was a great, straight-talking Yorkshireman and he took that into the work he did.

"If he thought there was a problem or something that needed to be done he would get to work straight away.

"He campaigned to keep green space around the County Ground during discussions about the stadium redevelopment, and played a major role in the Streets For Living campaign."

Derique Montaut knew Les from his regular attendance at council meetings.

The Labour ward councillor for the central area recognised his commitment.

He said: "Even if it was a minor meeting he would be there with the same enthusiasm.

"He was a deeply committed old Labour figure and the town is poorer for his passing.

"There have not been many people like Les and he will be sorely missed."

Karen Leakey worked with Les until the end of last month, staging a cohesion event on April 28 through the Broad Street Area Community Council.

Karen said: "It has been a privilege and honour to have worked with Les and he has inspired me to continue with his work."