A MAN originally from the Bradford district has been killed in a car crash in the Australian outback.

Adrie Josef den Ronden died when his vehicle was involved in a collision in the small Queensland town of Bedourie.

The 67-year-old granddad was born in Keighley and spent his early childhood in the town before emigrating Down Under with his family.

He returned to the district in the early 1960s, when he attended Eastwood School and then later joined the RAF as an airframe fitter based at Finningley.

Latterly he lived in Western Queensland.

This week his brother, Colin, who is in the Philippines, paid tribute.

"He was adventurous and outgoing – and at times mischievous!" he said.

"On board a ship to Australia he and our brother Robert – and two other lads, who acted as lookouts – were responsible for painting skull and crossbones on a towel and tying it to the flag pole which overhung the water at the back of the ship.

"The two lookouts were caught but Adrie and Robert escaped.

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"The captain wasn't pleased because some years earlier a passenger had climbed the flag pole and fallen, never to be seen again.

"They also got involved in a brawl in the lounge and were thrown into the ship's brig for an overnight stay!

"In Australia he worked for some years at a hospital as an orderly then nursing aid, before taking a job as a manager at the first Australian store of the hamburger franchise Burger King.

"From there he moved into various managerial positions in the construction sector and at one stage had his own computer business."

Later he became a works co-ordinator for Diamantina Shire Council, in Bedourie.

Adrie, whose father was Dutch, was the eldest of three sons.

The family lived at Ivy Street, Keighley, and then at Ingrow in his early years.

On returning to the area he had spells at Oakworth, Haworth and Worth Village, before living in the Parkwood flats.

He has two daughters, Tanya and Sonya, four granddaughters –Telisha, Chelsea, Lily and Alyssa – and one grandson, James.

His funeral has taken place on the Gold Coast in Queensland.