A MAN who changed the skyline of Burnley has died, aged 75.

Maurice Tate, the former steeplejack and councillor died at his home in Todmorden Road, Burnley, on Monday.

He was found dead in bed by his wife, Enid, a former Mayor of Burnley and also a long-serving Conservative member of Burnley Council.

In recent years he had suffered from Parkinson's Disease.

Both Maurice and Enid have been familiar figures in the town for years driving their imported Cadillac limousine with their personalised MET registration plate.

Maurice also served on the council as a Conservative for 19 years.

He was born in the Fulledge area of Burnley and attended Todmorden Road junior school before moving to Burnley Wood school where he began a sporting career as a goalkeeper.

During the war he played for Burnley reserves and was in goal for the side that brought the Lancashire Junior Shield to Turf Moor for the first and only time.

He left school at the age of 14 and on his way to the Labour Exchange met a steeplejack who offered him a job.

Maurice promptly accepted and began a career which led to him demolishing many of Burnley's landmark buildings including the Savoy Cinema and Cafe on the corner of Red Lion Street and many of old mill chimneys in Burnley and the rest of East Lancashire.

He reckoned he had worked on 300 chimneys during his career as well as many church spires in the area. At the age of 19 he was commended for his bravery in helping to save another apprentice stuck on a chimney when their foreman fell 120 ft to his death at Padiham's Orchard Mill.

Ten years later he suffered a fractured skull when he was trapped under a ton of flooring at Hough's Tannery, Finsley Gate. He was back at work six months later to finish the job.

In another incident he escaped injury when falling 40ft from a ladder in Elizabeth Street.

He was a Conservative councillor for 19 years in the Central and Rosehill wards.

Maurice and Enid met on a blind date and celebrated their golden wedding in 1997. Enid was Mayor of Burnley in 1997-8. The funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.