Peter Dainton-White and his wife BettieA SWINDON man who ran his own haulage business has died.

Peter Dainton-White died aged 78 from pneumonia at the Great Western Hospital.

He leaves his wife Bettie, 77, and daughter Nicola, 46.

Mr Dainton-White was born in Cardiff in 1927 but moved to Swindon as a young boy and went to school at King William Street then Lethbridge Road in Old Town.

He was an apprentice at the Great Western Railway before serving in the Army in Germany and Italy.

After leaving the army he returned to the Great Western Railway and then worked for Vickers.

He married Bettie in 1949 at Christ Church in Old Town. They moved to Blunsdon and in the late 1950s Mr Dainton-White set up his own haulage company, Dainton-White International, at Castle Eaton.

Nicola was born in 1958. Shortly afterwards Mr Dainton-White, who was a gliding enthusiast, had a serious gliding accident which he was lucky to survive.

The family moved to Cricklade 25 years ago.

Nicola, who lives in Castle Eaton with husband Berry Wicks, said she would remember her father's sense of fun and his cooking.

"He had a good sense of fun and liked a good laugh," she said. "He was renowned for his bread making and there were many requests for his chestnut soup at Christmas."

In later years Mr Dainton-White suffered with his health but still managed to enjoy a fairly active life and many holidays at the family's Spanish home.

His funeral is at Kingsdown Crematorium today. Family flowers only but donations may be given to Cancer Research UK, c/o Blackwells Independent Funeral Directors, Thames House, Thames Lane, Cricklade, SN6 6BH.