TRIBUTES have been paid to a wonderful man who worked tirelessly for his community.

Jack Fryer died on Thursday at the age of 87.

Mr Fryer, of Northside, served on Workington Borough Council from 1970 and spent 29 years on Allerdale council from its inception in 1973 until 2003.

He was Mayor of Allerdale in 1993-'94.

He leaves sons Paul, Mark, John and Stephen and 11 grandchildren.

A Labour councillor for Northside and St Michael's ward, he spent many years in the merchant navy.

Originally from Bristol, one of the first people he met when moving to Workington was his beloved wife Theresa, who died three years ago.

The pair ran Workington's Labour club from 1974 until Theresa retired around 20 years ago.

Mr Fryer's son Mark, who runs Cumbria Recycling at Lillyhall as well as being deputy leader of Allerdale council, said: "My dad was brought up during the war, those were difficult times and he had a set of principles he lived by. He was a thoughtful man, who wouldn't do anybody down - It wasn't like today's modern politics. If he had anything to say, it would be said, but he never fell out with anybody."

Brian Wilson, a prominent former Labour councillor, recalled Mr Fryer as being the first person in Britain to be elected with the teenage vote.

Mr Wilson said: "In 1970 the voting age lowered from 21 to 18. Jack was elected at a by-election which had the new electoral register. That was his claim to fame. Workington Borough Council finished in 1974, he was one of the last survivors of that that council and with Jack gone, there's only three of us left."

Mr Wilson remembered Mr Fryer's love for performing arts. He said: "Jack was from Bristol, where the opportunity for theatre were plentiful, round here not so much. Jack was anxious to ensure the survival of the Carnegie and to bring touring companies and musicians to West Cumberland. He was also a very strong supporter of Theatre By The Lake, he kept Allerdale on side with regards to that."

Mark also remembered his father's love for the arts.

He said: "The jazz festival was done by him with help from other people and when that was sorted out they were involved in organising the Blues festival in Maryport."

One of the moments that made Mark most proud of his dad was when proposals were put forward to close Dovenby Hall hospital and a meeting was held in Wigton.

Mark said: "It was full of protesters who didn't want those people in the community and my dad got up. There was some quite bad language used by some people and my dad was just wonderful. I never told him this, but I was dead proud of him. He cared about people, especially the people who couldn't look after themselves - he was simply wonderful and he saved the day. And within six months of moving people back into the community everyone really rallied round them."

Mr Fryer also loved cricket and rugby and always took his sons to the Workington Town matches.

Mr Fryer and his brothers Ted and Graham all worked engineering and Mr Fryer travelled the world with the merchant navy, visiting Chile, San Francisco, Peru, New Zealand and many other places. The love for travelling accompanied Mr Fryer and his wife throughout their lives.

Mark said: "They just loved going on holiday. They did everything together."

Mr Fryer loved spending time with his grandchildren and all his family adopted his strong principles.

Mark said: "There was no doubt that we weren't going to work - That's what you do: you work hard, you don't do anybody down and you look after the people around you. If you know you can give somebody a hand you consider it done - that's how we've always lived."

Mr Wilson said: "He was a working class man, a hard-working man. As far as the Labour Party was concerned, Jack and his wife provided a home at the Labour club for many years and they will be remembered for that."

Allerdale council has also paid tribute to Mr Fryer. A spokesman said: "The council is incredibly sad to hear of the death of former councillor and Alderman Jack Fryer.

"Having previously served on the old Workington Council, Jack was a member of Allerdale Borough Council for a total of 30 years since its inception in 1973. Jack served on the Council’s Executive between 2000 and 2003, and was Mayor from 1993-1994 alongside his wife Theresa as Mayoress.

"In recognition of his contributions he was awarded the title of Honorary Alderman of the Borough, which was presented at an extraordinary meeting of the council in September 2012."

Mr Fryer served as Mayor of Workington in 1978-79. Although serving on Allerdale, he also became a town councillor in 1994, serving until his retirement in 2007.

Barbara Cannon, current Mayor of Workington, said: "Jack was a tireless servant of the community in which he lived. He mentored new councillors and brought a wealth of experience to all the roles he took on. He was rightly made an Honorary Alderman of Allerdale in 2012, and both Town and Borough are losing a major player from Workington’s history."

Mr Fryer's funeral will take place on Friday at 10am at Our Lady And St Michael's Church in Workington.