BALLROOM dancing event promoter, Mel Douglas, has died at the age of 79.

Born in Eastbourne as Maurice Douglas Olsen, he was known as Mel Douglas to friends and loved ones, which was also his stage name.

His interest in music started in Eastbourne running a little record club when he left school and from there he worked on the Queen Mary as a waiter in the Veranda Grill.

While travelling he met some influential people including Doris Day and while visiting New York he met the drummer, Gene Krupa, who inspired him to play the drums.

In his early twenties he moved to Portsmouth and formed a band called the Mel Douglas Set who performed at the Mecca Ballroom, before moving to Southampton where he played at The Top Rank.

In 1968 the band secured a six-month contract at The Empire in Leicester Square and then moved onto working at The Carousel, the sister club of the Palladium, where he met Olivia Newton-John, Freddie Star and other up-and-coming stars.

Three years later he moved to Colchester and formed another band which they named after the club they played in Windmill.

At this point they auditioned for New Faces and Opportunity Knocks before being discovered by Tony Hatch who became their manager and released a record on the Pye label called ‘Sure Enough in Love with You’ under the new name of Wild Affair.

In 1979 Wild Affair toured Scandinavia for three months and then in the 1980s, they secured a five-year residency at Baileys nightclub in Watford.

Here they they worked with top stars of the day including Sister Sledge, The Supremes, The Commodores, Bucks Fizz, The Four Tops, Les Dennis and Mel made a personal friend of Tommy Cooper.

Mel moved back to Bournemouth in 1986 and ran a small hotel for a short time before going back into the music business as a DJ in various hotel in the town.

For the next 25 years he specialised in ballroom dancing and worked with World Champion Ballroom dancers such as Anton Du Beke and Karen Hardy at the Pavilion Ballroom in Bournemouth, as well as organising dance holidays in the south of England.

He died in Dorchester Hospital on April 7 and is survived by his two daughters, Debbie and Joanne, his son, Hadley, and his two grandsons, Lewis and Jaiden.

His funeral takes place on Thursday, May 5 at Hinton Park Woodland Burial Ground at 3pm.