LORD Scanlon, a former president of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers who lived in Kent, has died at the age of 90.

Lord Scanlon was among a group of militant union leaders at the heart of industrial strife in Britain in 1960s and 1970s.

After his retirement he moved with his family to a converted coachhouse on the cliffs above Broadstairs. He leaves a widow, Nora, and two daughters.

Lord Scanlon made many friends as well as enemies in the trade union movement. He was also a good raconteur with a keen sense of humour.

On St Valentine's Day many years ago he appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme Any Questions? and was asked if he had sent anyone a Valentine card.

After a brief pause, he responded: "My mind doesn't make appointments my body can't keep."

At one time Lord Scanlon was a card-carrying Communist but lived to regret his unbending militancy.

In a radio interview in the early 1980s, several years after he retired from his trade union office, he admitted that the wildcat strikes and other forms of disruption had robbed Britain of its place as a world centre for the car-making industry.

He was president of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers between 1968-78.