The last remaining survivor of the group set up to save Arnos Vale cemetery has been honoured.

Arthur Usher, 89, was one of five people who set up a campaign group on September 22, 1987 in a bid to stop businessman Tony Towner building homes on the picturesque cemetery.

The Association for the Preservation of Arnos Vale Cemetery (APAC) was established in 1987 and became the Friends of Arnos Vale Cemetery in 1998.

The cemetery, located between the A37 Wells Road and the A4 Bath Road, opened in 1839.

It was originally designed in the style of a Greek Necropolis, with mortuary chapels and other buildings bordering a beautiful garden.

There are 250,000 people buried there, but the cemetery was in a neglected state, causing heartache to hundreds of people whose relatives were laid to rest there.

In October 2002 Mr Usher was one of more than 500 group members who celebrated when Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott confirmed a compulsory purchase order for the overgrown 45-acre site next to the A4 Bath Road forcing Mr Towner to hand it over to the council.

The council, in turn, handed the lease to the Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust who took charge of a major restoration programme.

The Friends of Arnos Vale Cemetery help support the trust by fundraising, carrying out grounds maintenance, organising heritage tours and providing guides for the visitors' centre

Mr Usher, a former engineer, of Harrington Road, Shortwood, personally raised more than £30,000 spending hours approaching companies and individuals asking for support.

And at last week's annual general meeting Mr Usher was presented with a certificate awarding him honorary life membership to the group and an engraved Bristol blue glass paperweight.

Mr Usher said: "I was very honoured. I started this back on September 22, 1987 and it has been a heck of an effort to get where we are today.

"I was passionate about the site because my grandparents were buried there and my mother and father were buried there. Also I love history and the cemetery is full of it. We have over 500 servicemen buried there and people come from all over to visit.

"There were five of us who got the ball rolling back in 1987 and sadly the other four have passed away, but many others have put in a great deal of hard work along the way.

"When we first approached people saying we were worried the site would be built on they thought we were mad and that it would never happen.

"But slowly people began to realise that it was a real risk and now the group has got more than 500 members which is astonishing. It was a real battle but I am glad I played a part. I can't do as much as I would like anymore because of my back, but I still get down there to do light work like clearing the paths.The main thing at the moment is clearing the brambles.

"It has been a long hard battle but perseverance has paid off. Now my only hope is that I will live long enough to see the renovation completed."

Friends of Arnos Vale Cemetery chairman Stephen Barrow, who presented the award, said: "Arthur's retirement from active committee service was marked at the Friends AGM by making him an honorary life member of the Friends for his volunteer work on the committee and other activities including fundraising and working in the cemetery grounds.

"The Friends were pleased to present Arthur with a citation and a memento of Bristol blue glass in recognition of his service.

"Arthur still regularly attends volunteer mornings on Saturdays and some weekdays, assisting with grounds maintenance."