A FORMER mayor of Bradford on Avon has died at the age of 89 at Blenheim House care home in Melksham.

Peter Forster Taylor, who served on the town council for 30 years, died on May 14 surrounded by his family.

He was mayor of the town in 1991/92 and an active member of the Liberal Party who served his local community for most of his adult life.

He leaves two daughters, Adele and Diana. His late wife Elizabeth died on July 31 last year aged 88.

Mr Taylor was a much-loved grandad and great-grandad to four grandchildren, Peter and George Sykes, and Dorothy and Mary Stonell, and two great-grandchildren, Nellie and Joseph.

Adele said: “My father was a tolerant and non-judgmental man who lived his life with a strong set of principles that guided him at every turn. He was an inspiration to us all.”

Mr Taylor was born on November 14, 1928 to Edna and Alec Taylor, the eldest of four children, at Buckland St Mary near Taunton.

The family moved to Newbury and then to Bath before settling in Claverton Down when he was 11. His father ran the RSPCA’s Bath Cats and Dogs Home.

Mr Taylor was educated at Shaw School near Melksham, which was close to his grandparents’ home, and then St Mark’s School in Bath before attending Weymouth House School and a Technical School at Brougham Hayes.

After his father went to fight in the Second World War, Mr Taylor was charged with running the Cats and Dogs Home while still only a teenager.

After his father returned, he worked with a Bath veterinary practice, having developed a love of animals, particularly rabbits, which he kept throughout his life.

He was a vegetarian from a young age.

He joined the Sea Cadets aged 14 and volunteered for the Navy, before completing his National Service in the Royal Navy from the age of 18.

He later went to work for Spencer Moulton in Bradford on Avon, where he met his wife, Elizabeth. The couple married in 1954 at Christchurch, in Bradford on Avon.

His community work included being secretary of the Kingston Mills welfare committee, a school governor, a town councillor, and roles with National Savings and the Old Men’s Almshouses. He also took a great interest in the work of the Bradford on Avon Preservation Trust.

Mr Taylor’s funeral service was held at the Haycombe Crematorium in Bath for close family. This was followed by a thanksgiving service for his life at Christchurch, Bradford on Avon, on June 4.

Any donations in lieu of flowers will be sent to the City of Bath Sea Cadets, c/o C S Bowyer Funeral Directors, 2 The Bull Pit, Bradford on Avon, BA15 1NB.