FORMER member of the Jolly Pirates of Poole, John Brown, has died at the age of 76.

John Leslie Brown first appeared in the Daily Echo on January 29, 1973, almost a year after a crash in his 12-ton lorry on the M3.

Firefighters were requested to cut him from the vehicle and John later had to have his left leg amputated at the knee.

While in Cambridge Military Hospital recovering from the incident, the IRA blew up the officers' mess, which killed the kitchen staff, a vicar and a gardener, but John was lucky to survive.

He told the Daily Echo in 1973 that he was in too much pain to exchange pleasantries with the firemen from Farnborough who saved his life and was annoyed that he was not kinder to the crews at the time.

John organised a party to thank the firefighters at the station in person and they then returned the favour by visiting him in Poole.

He was presented with a fireman's badge mounted on a wooden plaque, while his wife, Joyce, received a bouquet of flowers and John's daughter, Elizabeth, then aged two, received a toy dog. The couple would later go on to welcome a second daughter, Ann.

At the time of the article going to press, he hoped to return to his old job as a driver with British Road Services and in May the same year, Daily Echo reported that John was fit for work.

In January the following year, he was reported to be driving a van for Ryvita, and in June 1974, he took part in a sponsored walk and raised £75.46 for Portfield School in Christchurch.

In October 1978, he organised a collection for the Wessex Area of the Disabled Drivers' Association of which he was a member of the Bournemouth branch.

The following year, he featured in the Daily Echo in the search for a new toy parrot as a member of the Jolly Pirates of Poole having helped to raise hundreds of pounds for the cause.

Dubbed 'Long John Silver' by his fellow members, he also played Father Christmas for over 20 years to entertain families in return for donations to Victoria's Children's Home, which is now known as Victoria Education Centre.

John died on Wednesday, November 23 following a battle with bile duct cancer and his funeral took place on Friday, December 16 with donations going to Marie Curie and AMMF (the bile duct cancer charity).