KEITH Jelley worked all day, every day for 34 years.

His motivation never wavered, because Keith was doing what he loved best – helping animals.

Alongside his wife of 40 years Rachel, the Second World War veteran started North Essex Horse Rescue in 1984.

It had humble beginnings, with the couple working out of a small, semi-detached cottage in The Street, Little Clacton.

There were no flower beds or neat hedgerows lining their garden, only shelters and sheds for the animals.

In the beginning, the pair rescued two neglected ponies named Tilly and Sophie.

But their policy was to never turn an animal away and by the 1990s, their operation had expanded to include more than 40 horses and ponies, alongside goats, sheep, pigs, cows, dogs and cats.

They even offered a safe home to chickens and guinea fowl.

Keith’s daughter Anita recalls: “People would be bringing in animals with complaints. He wasn’t a vet, but his experience with animals made him a proper Doctor Doolittle.

“He even has a parrot called Jasper.

“Jasper would to take his hearing aids when dad was asleep and hide them.”

The couple moved to a larger base in Tenpenny Hill, Thorrington, where they could safely expand their operation.

Keith’s son-in-law Doug added: “Even the wild birds in Thorrington were well-fed and knew when teatime was.

“There is a pair of ducks that have taken up residence just outside the back door of the farm.

“Keith only ever had one day out in the past 20 years – when his daughter and grandson took him to drive a tank at Muckleburgh on the north Norfolk coast.”

It is an incredible legacy to leave behind.

Shortly after Rachel passed away in 2015, the couple’s devotion to rescuing and caring for animals was recognised with a Pride of Tendring award.

Keith passed away at the age of 90 after a short illness.

He was born in Northampton and his youth was spent with his elder brother Doug, who is now 94.

After leaving school, Keith worked on a farm as a ploughman and a shepherd – where his love of animals flourished.

At the outbreak of the Second World War he joined the Army and rose to the rank of Corporal.

Doug said: “He told me the tale of the time spent in Italy when he was leading a patrol of six tanks.

“They stopped in a field of watermelons and started to load up the tanks with melons.

“The farmer wasn’t best pleased and approached them, rifle in hand, to remonstrate.

“Keith and his fellow tank drivers turner their guns on him and the farmer decided losing a few melons wasn’t such a bad idea after all.”

Keith married his first wife Rita in 1954, but remarried in 1975, living with Rachel in Walton before moving to their Little Clacton cottage.

Before starting the rescue, Keith enjoyed a varied career including work as a delivery driver, at a bakery in Weeley, a sales manager at a garage, window cleaning, an antiques business in Thorpe and a cardboard recycling business.

While running the horse rescue, Keith worked part-time at a pet shop in Little Clacton.

Paying tribute to her dad, Anita said: “He was dedicated.

“He would go without food if it meant feeding his animals.

“His knowledge was incredible – even vets would say ‘he tells us what to do.’

“One of them would say they would often chat and Keith would have a cup of tea in one hand and a sheep in the other.”

Keith’s funeral took place on Wednesday, July 26, at St Andrew’s Church, in Weeley.

As a fitting tribute to the man described by his daughter as a “true outdoorsman”, Keith’s final journey to the church was by tractor and trailer.

Keith is survived by daughter Anita, son-in-law Doug, grandsons Darryl and Carl, stepdaughter Sara and her husband Lol, and their children Imogen and Oliver.

The last of the animals at North Essex Horse Rescue have been rehomed and the centre will close its doors for good.