TRIBUTES were today being paid to a leading member of the Scouting community in East Lancashire.

John Lee, 77, of Richmond Terrace, Darwen, was chairman of the Highfield Scout Group and died suddenly on Sunday in hospital after a short illness.

John, who was known to most people as Jack, remained an active member of the Scouting community after joining the movement at eight years old and became a Cub and patrol leader at Duckworth Scouts before serving in the Royal Artillery in Italy during the Second World War.

He was made chairman of the Highfield group when he retired 12 years ago aged 65.

District Scout Commissioner for Darwen, John East, who read the eulogy at John's funeral yesterday at Highfield Congregational Church and was one of the first to pay tribute to John.

He said: "His work with Scouts will be missed for his knowledge and his tenacity. John valued Scouting from an early age and made sure it prospered. He has helped the group go from strength to strength and we are now one of the strongest groups in the county.

"He will go down as one of the stalwarts of Scouting in the Darwen community and will be missed by all who knew him. John will be very difficult to replace."

George Grime, group Scout leader of Whitehall, had known John for 40 years and paid tribute to the man he said was very much liked by everyone: "He was a very likeable chap and truly dedicated to his group at Highfield. He will be sorely missed by his group and people in the district as well." Tributes were also paid by the Darwen Branch of the Royal British Legion, where John had been president for the last two years.

Secretary of the branch William Armstrong said: "John was a very nice man. He was very knowledgable and extremely well-respected. He will be greatly missed by everyone."

John was a pupil at St James' Primary and Sudell Road Secondary Schools, Darwen, before spending his working life at Darwen-based firm, Shaws.

The veteran soldier married his childhood sweetheart Betty at Darwen's St James' Church 55 years ago after a teenage romance.

Betty was just 15 when they met and said: "He's really going to be missed I can tell you. We were so close. We did everything together. I never went anywhere without him."