A long-serving Colne Valley Male Voice Choir member has died suddenly.

First tenor Tony Ackroyd was only a month or so away from completing 25 years of membership with the choir.

He was also a member of Saddleworth Male Voice Choir

Choir secretary Jenny Baxter said: “Tony was a jovial and kindly character and he will be missed by all the members who knew him. He was busy organising a charity concert and wanting to involve Colne Valley members in support and wrote that he and his Saddleworth Colleagues will be collaborating with the Marsden Silver Prize Band on this and it will take place at St Bartholomew’s in Marsden on April 8.”

The aim of the concert is to raise money to combat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Tony had said just a couple of weeks before: “It’s an extremely serious condition. A genetic disorder that mostly affects boys. Those born with it lack the capacity to produce a protein necessary for muscle function. Most boys are in a wheelchair by the time they are teenagers and few survive into their 30s.”

Tony’s grandson, 13-year-old Edward, has the condition.

Tony’s funeral will be at Saint Chad’s Church, Church Road, Uppermill, OL3 6LW on Friday, January 20 at 12.30pm and afterwards at the Church Inn, which is next door.