Len Wadsworth

He co-founded Ripon Old Cars and held a series of popular rallies for car enthusiasts which were part of the fund raising, firstly for Yorkshire Cancer Research and then Yorkshire Air Ambulance. The group of enthusiasts with old and interesting vehicles has since gone on to raise more than 100,000 for various charities.

Mr Wadsworth, who was a retired haulage contractor, always had a passion for old cars and owned a much-loved 1956 Morris Minor, affectionately known as Maud, which was well known to people in Ripon.

In 1993 when he was suffering from throat cancer his wife, Pat, drove him backwards and forwards for weeks in Maud to Cookridge Hospital, in Leeds, for radiotherapy treatment. It was on those journeys that he decided that if he recovered he would find a way of saying thank you to the medical staff, which he did through staging events with Ripon Old Cars.

At the time he said: "I can never repay my debt of gratitude, but I aim to keep on trying." He was also a member of Ripon Motor Sports Club, travelling to rallies with them all over Yorkshire.

He also taught cycling proficiency to pupils at Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School, in Ripon.

Mr Wadsworth was born in Halifax but as hisfather was head gardener for various large Yorkshire estates the family moved around a lot, until they settled in Masham shortly before the Second World War.

At the outbreak of war, when he was 18, Mr Wadsworth joined the RAF and served as ground crew in India and Burma.

After being demobbed in 1946, he worked firstly as a driving instructor for BSM, then as a lorry driver for Bibby's, and finally ran his own one-man haulage business which he set up by selling an old Bentley he had been restoring and using the proceeds to buy a wagon.

After retiring at 65 he spent a lot of time on his allotment, and he was also on the committee of the St Wilfrid's Procession, an annual parade held in Ripon.

Mr Wadsworth is survived by his wife Pat, son Mark, daughter Sheila and twin grandchildren.