Bikes fan Alf Pares, who helped organise races at Donington Park before it became a world-famous circuit, has died at 88.

The Spondon man was a marshal at the circuit in the 1970s and owned more than 100 vintage bikes during his lifetime.

His son, Peter, said: "There have always been bikes in Dad's life and my mum just got used to it. He used to buy ex-RAF flying suits to ride in because they were fur-lined and kept him warm.

"One time in the late 1940s he and my mum, who was riding on the back, were stopped by the police who thought they were escaped prisoners of war.

"They ended up having to take their suits off and were strip-searched!"

Alf's love of motorbikes started early in his life and he kept one at a friend's house when he was 12 or 13.

He was married to Ethel, who died in 1997, for more than 50 years and Peter was their only son. He died at home on January 20, 2010.

Away from bikes, Alf began work as a bin man for Shardlow Rural District Council in 1939 and also worked for South-East Derby Rural District Council and Erewash Borough Council, before he retired in 1978.