A COMMUNITY activist of "generous and honest" character has died aged 79.

Walthamstow resident, Peter Spiro, died on Tuesday at the National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, in Queen Square, London, following a series of strokes.

The father-of-two was an active supporter of the William Morris Gallery in Lloyd Park, Walthamstow, taking part in protests against funding cuts and serving as vice chairman then acting chairman on the Friends of William Morris Gallery committee until recently.

He was also a member of the Friends of Lloyd Park, a Labour Party member, and an active borough resident, regularly attending community council meetings and writing letters to the Waltham Forest Guardian's letters page.

Chairman of the Friends of William Morris Gallery, Bill Measure, said: "He was very much involved locally and was keen to make the community a better and richer place, culturally as well as materially.

"He was very generous with his time and in spirit. He was also someone who could tell someone he disagreed with them without personal malice.

"It was always an honest opinion with Peter, who lived up to the ideal of doing what is right and fearing nobody."

Mr Measure said that friends were shocked to learn of Mr Spiro's death because he had been in good health up until the last few weeks.

Mr Spiro is survived by his wife, Marian, and their two daughters.