A former Kent County Councillor, who was known as a tenacious fighter for the underdog, has died.

John Frisby was elected to the county council in 1989 having already served as a parish councillor for several years. He sat as a Liberal Democrat representing the Maidstone Central division and served for 16 years until his retirement in 2005.

In 2011, he was one of five former councillors to be given the honorary title of Alderman in recognition of his exceptional service.

John Frisby was born at New Cross, London. His brother was Terence Frisby, the playwright and author of There's A Girl in My Soup.

During the Second World War, he was evacuated to Cornwell. He was called up just as the war came to an end - in fact on the very day that Japan surrendered.

After being demobbed, he moved to Welling, South London, and started a long career with the oil company BP, becoming its head of human resources. He spent three years working in the Middle East where he showed his care for the workers by being the first to equip the migrant workers with safety footwear and protective clothing.

He met his wife, Joan, in Welling, but they were determined to live in the countryside and soon moved to a converted coach-house in Mereworth, where they had two children, Alistair and Clare.

In politics he led the campaign to prevent West Malling Airfield being converted to become London's third airport, before its later establishment as the Kings Hill estate. He was also very vocally opposed to the "fat cat" salaries of KCC's own senior officers. More locally, he was one of the key instigators in the campaign to establish the Collis Millennium Park in Maidstone.

He was called out of retirement by BP to assist the company with an ill-timed share issue, which coincided with Black Wednesday, and he was involved in long negotiations with the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson.

His daughter said: "His guiding principles always were about looking after people and looking after the environment. He was a tenacious politician whenever he saw injustice."

On a personal level, Clare Frisby said her father had been: "A great role model. He was a caring, devoted husband and a dutiful and loving father."

Mr Frisby passed away on February 23, aged 90.

He leaves Joan, now widowed after 67 years of marriage, their two children and four grandchildren: Holly, Callum, Freddie and Ollie.

The funeral will be at St Lawrence Church in Mereworth on Friday at 11am.

Mr Frisby suffered from Parkinson's Disease for four years before his death and the family have requested donations to Parkinson's UK instead of flowers, which can be made via Viner and Sons of West Malling. Phone: 01732 842485.