A RESPECTED district judge has died after his car was swept off the road by floods.

Judge Eric Dickinson was returning from Evesham to his home in Leigh on Monday.

After an extensive search, he and his car were found submerged downstream of a swollen ford in Pershore on Tuesday evening.

Judge Dickinson, 68, had been a county court judge for 23 years, sitting in courts right across the Midlands.

A dedicated member of the Rotary Club of Worcester Severn and chairman of South Worcester-shire Victim Support scheme, Judge Dickinson was heavily involved in the local community and was vice-chairman of Leigh and Bransford Parish Council.

His love of classical music drew him to the Three Choirs Festival, for which he twice held the post of secretary.

A keen member of the Lychgate Players amateur dramatic group, he was also a dedicated church-goer, attending St Andrew's Methodist Church in Worcester, where he was a lay preacher.

He had lived in Leigh since 1973, and leaves his wife Gill, sons William and Mark, daughter Emma and six grand-children.

His eldest son William, who lives in Nottingham, described his father as a very popular man with a good sense of humour.

"Away from his legal work, he never had any spare time because of his involvement in family, Rotary, the church and other interests," he said. "He always gave his time unselfishly to other people."

Younger son Mark added: "Anyone who came into contact with him will remember him. He was very much loved, not just by us, but by a wide community of people. Everyone who knew him has been greatly affected."