A 'VERY well-known and liked' councillor who served for 45 years has died.

Ex-Cherwell District Councillor Fred Blackwell, an Honorary Alderman, died at the Horton General Hospital in Banbury on Wednesday December 13. 

He was a councillor for Cherwell and its predecessor authority, Banbury Borough Council, for 45 years before finally standing down in 2016.

During his long years of service, he served as Cherwell’s chairman from 1981 to 1983 and on various committees. 

The title of Honorary Alderman was given to him in July 2016 in recognition of his decades of dedication to the district.

The flag at the council's office in Bodicote House is flying at half mast in his memory until after his funeral. 

The leader of the council Barry Wood said: “Fred Blackwell was a very well-known and liked councillor, both among council colleagues and in the wider community.

"He will be remembered as an extremely hard-working councillor who fulfilled a wide range of duties on council committees, and for passionately representing the views of the communities he served.

"And as anyone who had the pleasure of working with him will recall, he was also a highly likeable man who afforded everyone who met him the greatest courtesy and respect.”

Alderman Blackwell is survived by a son and daughter.