THE founder of a club of volunteer lifeguards, who kept watch over Canvey’s beaches for more than 50 years, has died.

Charlie Carey, 84, formed the Canvey Lifeguards with his late wife Lily in 1958, in response to the tragic death of a man and his son who drowned in the estuary, off May Avenue, Canvey.

Their base next door to the Concord Cafe, off Eastern Esplanade, had a lookout post where trained volunteers could oversee Concord Beach and the surrounding coastline.

The club had a large membership and often had a waiting list of more than 100 budding recruits.

They had a patrol boat and members kept in contact using hand-held walkie talkies as they walked along the sea wall.

Mr Carey, who lived on Canvey from 1935, was still actively patrolling the coastline when the group finally disbanded in 2005, because they could not find enough young people to take over the duties.

In 1999 he was appointed an MBE by the Queen for lifelong dedication to keeping children and other bathers safe from harm.

It is thought Mr Carey passed away at home on Friday from natural causes.

Betty Storey, who was a close friend and former treasurer of the Canvey Lifeguards, said: “He was a lovely man who will be sorely missed. He made a great contribution to Canvey and to us his friends. We were all much better off for having known him.“ Mr Carey was born in 1927 in the Punjab Province of India, where his father was serving in the British Army.

He met his wife when he was just eight-years-old at King William Primary School, Canvey, after the family moved back to Britain.

They tied the knot after Mr Carey returned from serving in the Far East in the Second World War and were married for 63 years before Lily passed away in May last year.

The couple had two sons, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Their son David, 57, who lives in Loughbrough, said: “He was very honest and caring. We were really proud when he was given the MBE and of all the good work my mother and father did through the Canvey Lifeguards.

“They were much loved and will be sadly missed by the family and all their friends.”

Mr Carey’s funeral will be at Pitsea Crematorium, but a date has not yet been arranged.