TRIBUTES have been paid to a popular car dealer, who was described by his community as “a true gentleman”.

The body of Joe Harker, who would have been 76 on Saturday, was discovered on Monday afternoon in an overflowing beck near his home.

Mr Harker, who ran Westfield Motors with his wife, Val, from their farm in Wensley, North Yorkshire, was a popular figure in the village.

He leaves his wife and two daughters, Angela and Sandra.

When he failed to return to work after lunch on Monday, his colleagues assumed he had gone for a walk, but he was still missing several hours later. Phil Harrington, who was a mechanic for Mr Harker for 24 years, discovered the body at about 3pm.

“It was a real shock,” he said. “Val and I looked around the garage, but we thought he must have gone for a walk.

“I decided to have a look round the edges of the fields, and it was then that I found him lying in the beck.

“He was right up against a makeshift bridge that had become blocked with debris. He was obviously trying to clear it and fell in somehow. His family are devastated.”

Villagers described Mr Harker as “a true gentleman”

and “a real character”.

David Hunt, landlord at the Three Horseshoes Inn, said: “He was a very popular man and everyone knew him.

“It’s a very close community, and it has come as a real shock to everyone. He was a true gentleman. It’s incredibly sad.”

Lord Bolton, of Bolton Hall, Wensley, had known Mr Harker all his life.

He said. “He was a lovely man, and will be very sadly missed.”

Brian Palmer, Mr Harker’s friend, said: “With Joe, what you saw was what you got. He was a wonderful man with a brilliant sense of humour.

“We used to socialise with him and Val most weekends and they were such a close couple. It is a real blow.”

A police spokesman said: “Paramedics tried to resuscitate him and he was airlifted to Harrogate District Hospital but, unfortunately, died. We believe there are no suspicious circumstances.”