FORMER Conservative MP and retired Scarborough supermarket company boss Wilf Proudfoot has died at the age of 91.

Mr Proudfoot served for two terms in Parliament as MP for Cleveland and later as the member for Brighouse and Spenborough.

A leading Yorkshire businessman, he pioneered the supermarket concept in Britain in the 1950s and, as an MP, was a key promoter of decimilisation of currency before its introduction in 1971.

During his first term in Westminster, he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sir Keith Joseph when he was minister of housing and local government.

Mr Proudfoot was part of a group of Scarborough businessmen who formed a consortium to promote a pirate radio radio station off Scarborough, Radio 270, and became its joint managing director.

The station was taken off the air in 1967 as a result of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act.

After leaving Parliament in 1974, Mr Proudfoot became a regular visitor to the United States, where he developed an interest in hypnotism.

He established a school of hypnosis in Scarborough which attracted people from all parts of the world.