A FORMER Bournemouth mayor says there should be a permanent memorial to the late Phil Carey.

Phil Carey, who received an MBE for his charity work, died in hospital on July 15, aged 92.

Now Boscombe West councillor Phil Stanley-Watts, who said Mr Carey should have been made mayor of Bournemouth, has called for him to be officially remembered.

Mr Carey was a D-Day veteran, former councillor, Rotarian and Salvationist, who for 17 years organised the Daily Echo Toy Appeal.

He was admitted to hospital after a fall on July 2. It has since emerged that he fell to the ground when a car suddenly stopped in front of him in Westover Road.

Cllr Stanley-Watts was a fellow member for Boscombe West until Phil Carey left the council in 2003. In those days, Cllr Stanley-Watts was a Liberal Democrat and Cllr Carey a Conservative. Later, Cllr Stanley-Watts defected to the Tories, while Cllr Carey was expelled from the party for voting to save the Winter Gardens.

Cllr Stanley-Watts, who served as mayor two years ago, said: “He was a really good friend to me, more like an uncle.

“I knew him over a long period of time, especially because he was a fellow ward councillor. He was at the heart of the community.

“I got on with him better than I did many people in my own party.

“I think there should be some kind of remembrance for him. As somebody that has been mayor, I think he should have been mayor. There was a bit of an animosity because he left the Conservative Party because of his stance on the Winter Gardens.

“He should be remembered for all the good, hard work that he did in the community.”

As well as serving on Bournemouth council, Mr Carey was a school and hospital governor and a trustee of the Butterfly Foundation charity for survivors of domestic violence.

An inquest into his death is due to resume in October.