THE chairman of Minchinhampton Committee of Commoners, Brendan Shiner, has died peacefully at his home in Amberley.

Mr Shiner, a much loved community figure, died on Wednesday, July 11, having celebrated his 84th birthday in June.

His son, Tim, 43, of Bussage, said: "He was loud and lively and liked a good party. He was a very social chap."

Mr Shiner was born in Essex and attended Stonyhurst Roman Catholic public school in Lancashire.

He completed his National Service with the Army Tank Corps and read politics, economics and philosophy at Pembroke College, Oxford before becoming a law student while his wife Mary worked as a nurse.

They moved to Culver House in Amberley in 1972, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Mr Shiner was a devoted Roman Catholic and was also passionate about horse racing.

A barrister by profession, he was widely known in legal circles.

Mr Shiner had been a Stroud district councillor, a governor at Marling School and a governor at the former Amberley Ridge Special School.

He once served as a councillor alongside John Major in the London borough of Lambeth.

Mr Shiner loved and embraced his role as chairman of the Minchinhampton Committee of Commoners.

Peter Gardiner, vice chairman of the committee, said: "He has done an awful lot for the committee and we are hugely indebted to him."

Mr Shiner is also survived by sons Niall, Charles and Tim, his daughter Ceri, and 11 grandchildren.

A requiem mass was held on Monday at Woodchester Priory.

Just hours before the funeral, Gloucester Crown Court convened to remember Mr Shiner, a regular at the bar from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Mr Shiner was described in court as a 'force of nature' and a 'whirlwind of vigour and rhetoric'.

Barrister Don Tait said: "He became a legend on the western circuit and is still remembered with considerable affection."