A WAR veteran who pumped iron in the gym until the age of 90 has died.

Harold Wareing’s family have paid tribute to the ‘real fighter’, who has died aged 94.

Mr Wareing, born in Blackburn in 1925, was still visiting the old Waves Pool in Blackburn where he would work out in the gym and swim 60 lengths a week, into his tenth decade.

He fought for his country in Burma during the Second World War after volunteering to join the Royal Navy aged just 17.

It was while serving on a ship in Burma in 1944 that Mr Wareing broke his pelvis after slipping on some rigging and falling into a lifeboat.

After returning to Blackburn and recovering from his injury, the accident did not stop Mr Wareing from enjoying his life and having a family while working in some of the town’s most iconic businesses.

He lived in Openshaw Drive, Pleckgate, for 47 years after moving into the house in 1972.

He died on April 23 and his daughters Joy Wareing and Christine Davies paid tribute.

Ms Wareing said: “Harold was a real fighter who lived life to the full and kept himself busy and active.

“He was born and bred in Blackburn and was a proper ‘Blackburnonian’.”

During his life, Mr Wareing married his late wife Joyce and the pair had three daughters, Joy, Christine and Heather Kidd.

His employment saw him work as an apprentice fitter at Newman’s Slipper Works, at Thwaites and as a bus driver for Blackburn with Darwen Council for 17 years before his retirement in 1988. Joy and Christine said he never missed a day of work in his life.

Ms Wareing added: “He once dropped a massive beer barrel on his big toe and he sat in a bucket of ice all night so he could work the next day. That was how hardworking he was.

“He was an old school type person, very strict and a man of principles but he had a loving side. He was very outgoing and sociable and would talk to anybody.”

Mr Wareing’s funeral takes place at Pleasington Crematorium on Tuesday, May 7, at 3.40pm and all who knew him are welcome to attend.