A conservation group has paid tribute to a former member, dubbed one of their “stalwarts”, who died last month.

The Epsom Protection Society paid tribute to its former treasurer and committee member Eric Dawe MBE, 95, who died after a short illness on May 16.

A former secretary and chairman of the Society, Tom Dethridge, said: "Eric Dawe was a keen advocate of the importance of conserving and enhancing the local environment and strongly believed that today’s generation should work to leave a brighter heritage for the children of tomorrow.

"He made his contribution to this aim.

"[He was] a quiet and modest man with an engaging sense of humour and well liked by all who came into contact with him."

Mr Dawe was born in Battersea in 1925, and won a scholarship aged 11 to Christ’s Hospital Boarding School, in Sussex. From there, he went on to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, to read modern languages.

He was called up into the Royal Navy in 1944, where his proficiency in German was put to use, intercepting messages from u-boats, or German submarines, and other enemy warships. The information obtained was given to the code-breaking operation at Bletchley Park.

Mr Dawe returned to Cambridge after the War, securing a First being nominated undergraduate of the year. He joined the civil service in the Ministry of Health, where among other tasks, he was responsible for processing and researching the flow of MPs’ parliamentary questions.

On retirement, in 1985, he was appointed MBE.

Mr Dethridge said: "Eric never married and his brother and sister pre-deceased him, but he is survived by his sister-in-law Daphne, also of Epsom.

"He was a devotee of novelist Anthony Trollope with a complete collection of his works and was also knowledgeable on china and pottery."

Mr Dawe’s funeral took place on June 2, at Randalls Park Crematorium.