A COUNCIL is mourning the “great loss” of its tireless chairman.

Laurie Street, who took over the reins of Great Wakering Parish Council in May 2015, died after falling ill following an operation.

The council has paid tribute to Mr Street. In a statement, the authority said: “Laurie will be tremendously missed, his death is a great loss to the village, his untiring work for the villages, his knowledge of the history of events in the area, his approachability, his willingness to help if someone raised a problem, and he always did what he could.

“He had extensive contacts both in the area as well as further afield. He was not one to leave things to others - he was one to take on a challenge when it presented itself.”

Mr Street, who headed the planning committee during his time at Great Wakering, was also a councillor for Barling Magna.

He was born on the borders of Great and Little Wakering, and went to Barling School during the Second World War. Aged 13, he was transferred to Great Wakering and ended up at Rayleigh Tech.

He worked on fishing boats, and was part the crew on the barge Cygnet. At the time of the 1953 east coast floods, which caused death and destruction, boats including the Cygnet worked night and day for months. Years later, Mr Street became an unpaid volunteer coastguard for 20 years.

He joined the Royal Air Force as a dog handler and served on the civil police for 30 years, working as the section sergeant for the area. He had special responsibilities for operating the local Flood Warning System, and had about 30 neighbourhood watch groups under his wing - all of which were additional to normal duties.

During his time at the council, Mr Street served on the Sea Defence and Emergency Support Committee, where he helped set up the Parish Emergency Response Plan. He used a short wave radio to monitor flood alerts so he could take action if the area was under threat.

Mr Street was chairman of the Great Wakering Parish Plan Group, formed to gain thoughts and aspirations over four years while the plan was produced.

He worked with the Garden and Allotment Society and operated a watch group. He was an allotment holder himself for over 50 years.

He was chair of Barling and Wakering’s Neighbourhood Watch and organising distribution of the winter newsletter when he was taken ill in October 2016.

Mr Street, who died in December, leaves behind his wife Judy, children Colin and Alison, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.