A RELATIVE of Titus Salt who kept close links with Saltaire and was "invaluable" in documenting the village's history, has died aged 96.

The death of Denys Salt, the great grandson of Sir Titus, has been described as a huge loss to Saltaire.

Denys was taken to hospital on Saturday after falling ill, and died on Sunday morning.

The son of Harold Salt, Denys had served in the army and worked for the BBC before moving to Austria with his wife Ava after retiring. He had little to do with the industrial world that his great grandfather found such success in, but after a visit to Saltaire in the 1950s he instantly fell in love with the model village his family built.

He watched it go from a working industrial village to the World Heritage Site it is today, and soon developed strong links with the village groups such as the WI, History Society and the Saltaire Festival group. Despite his age he was a regular sight in the village, at times dressing up as his ancestor for special events.

On a visit to the village in 2006, Denys told the T&A: "I think if Titus could see Saltaire now he would feel very proud and happy it was being preserved as a World Heritage Site.

"The college is still central to the village and that would have pleased him because education was very important to him."

Maria Glot set up Salt's Walk history tours, of which Denys was a patron, and said: "He was wonderful, he was so supportive of everyone and everything in the village. He never had a bad word to say about Saltaire. Everyone in the history club, in Shipley College, everyone in the tourist information centre, he was friendly with everyone.

"Every time he came back he would buy anything with Saltaire on it - his family always used to say they always knew what they were getting for Christmas. It is so sad - I don't think there will be anyone in the village who won't have a wonderful thing to say about him. He said the village had become like Notting Hill with all the shops and cafes.

"You couldn't wish for a better life. Other members of the Salt family were interested in the village, but in my mind there is no doubt he was the most involved."

Dave Shaw, of the Saltaire History Society, said: "He helped promote the history of Saltaire for more than half a century. Within the Salt family he was the family historian and it helped maintain the family's links with the village in an invaluable way. He helped us document the history of the village.

"He was a very charming man. His father was born in 1860, so Denys maintained that link with the past generation.

"He was very proud of Saltaire, and I think Sir Titus would have been very proud of him."