TRIBUTES have been paid to a well-known York businessman who has died after a battle with leukaemia.

Peter Turnbull died at the age of 71, after a lifetime spent on the city’s business scene.

Born in Harrogate in 1942, Mr Turnbull moved to York as a young man and ran Turnbull’s car dealership in Layerthorpe from 1966 until his retirement in 2001, when his son Martyn took over.

The only son of Bob and Doris Turnbull, Peter had three sisters; Peggy, Janet and Judy. He attended Nunthorpe School and started work at the family’s Holgate service station at the age of 14.

The Turnbulls moved on to Monk Bridge service station, and finally to the Layerthorpe site in 1966, where they were first Datsun and later Mazda dealers.

Martyn, now the business’s managing director, said it had been a pleasure to work alongside his father.

“Dad always had time for everybody. Whether they were friends, customers, or staff, he treated everybody just the same.”

Peter met his wife, Maureen, at Court’s School of Dancing in York and the couple were married at St Philip and St James’s Church in Clifton in 1964.

They have two sons, Paul and Martyn, daughters-in-law Belinda and Victoria, and four grandchildren; Nicholas, 20, Rebecca, 18, Maddie, six, and Freddie, three.

Martyn said his father was “a busy man” and enjoyed many hobbies and interests throughout his life.

“In his early days he liked his cycling, and we played a lot of tennis.

“We had a beautiful home in Woodlands Road with a big garden where Paul and I would play football and Dad would join in – he couldn’t help himself.

“In the early 1980s, Dad got his pilot’s licence and enjoyed flying all over Europe from Sherburn Aeroclub.”

Peter was also a member of York Golf Club and was a familiar face at Heworth Conservative Club, where he played snooker.

Martyn said: “Dad was well known in the city, a quiet man but very popular.”

In 2008, Peter began to suffer from dementia, and about a year ago was diagnosed with leukaemia. Treatment was initially successful and Peter enjoyed the summer, even getting out on his bike.

But in October the family heard his condition was terminal, and in November he moved into St Leonard’s Hospice where he died on December 3. More than 200 people paid their respects at a funeral service at Christ Church in Stockton Lane on December 12.