TRIBUTES have been paid to a "greatly respected and much loved" former York councillor, who has died.

David Henderson, who represented Huntington and New Earswick on City of York Council from 1999 to 2003, died last weekend, following an illness. He was 66.

Friends and former colleagues today paid their respects.

His fellow ward councillor Carol Runciman said: "He was a very loyal and hard-working councillor, greatly respected by the people of Huntington and New Earswick, and much loved by them. He was a very, very nice man.

"It was a pleasure to work with him. He was a gentleman and a very hard worker, and he did a lot for the ward and the city."

Before becoming a councillor, Mr Henderson was a long-serving member of Huntington Parish Council, and also a science teacher at Woldgate School in Pocklington, where he worked alongside Charles Hall, himself a future councillor.

Coun Hall said they first met in the 1960s, at the Rural Science Department of what is now York St John University, where Mr Henderson was particularly interested in hydroponics - growing plants in water.

He then went to live in Canada for some time, before going into teaching.

Coun Hall said: "While he was at Woldgate he ran a science club, and it was always over-subscribed.

"He was a very original thinker and experimental scientist. Rather than follow the national curriculum, he wanted to expand children's experience of science, and promote the feeling of awe kids get when they discover something new for themselves."

In his spare time, Mr Henderson was a keen supporter of Sunderland FC, and was also active musically. Friend Nigel Holdsworth said he first met him through a church choir at Wetherby in the 1980s, and he had been a keen singer for many years.

He said: "Church music was something that David loved, and he enjoyed singing."

He was a church-goer, latterly at Clifford, near Boston Spa.

Coun Hall said: "Having many friends, he would enlist the support of friends to augment the choir at Clifford."

Peter Vaughan, a ward colleague of Mr Henderson and former Lib Dem leader in York, said: "He was a very hard-working, very competent, very well-liked Lib Dem. He was ill for a fair while, but did not let that stop him until the last few months."

Current Lib Dem leader Steve Galloway said: "Dave was a popular figure in the local community and worked tirelessly for the Huntington community during his term of office.

"He was a gentleman with a very relaxed and approachable personality. He was a mainstay of the Liberal Democrats for many years and will be greatly missed by his council colleagues."

During his four years at The Guildhall, Coun Henderson served as chair of the Family Centres Review Group and the Best Value Monitoring Working Group.

Other bodies on which he sat included the planning committee, scrutiny management committee, members' IT working group, and licensing and regulatory committee.

He was also a substitute member on a number of committees.