Tribute has been paid to a founder member of the Bradford Magic Circle who has died aged 78 after spending a lifetime making people laugh.

Bob Eaton, pictured, who was renowned for his comic routines, was one of a dozen magicians who formed the group in 1948.

Today its president, Keith Pickles, said he was a man with a "tremendous amount of talent". "From the first time I saw him perform, with a stage full of props at the end of his act, he never failed to make me laugh," said Mr Pickles.

"He was a man with a tremendous amount of talent which he was always happy to share with everyone."

Mr Eaton first performed tricks at the age of nine in a show at Lilycroft School, Bradford, and his first paid show was in 1935. He entertained troops in Germany during World War Two, honing his magic which included complex card tricks.

During a career spanning almost 70 years Mr Eaton appeared at 32 Magical Society shows and dinners. He described his act as "a comedy routine with magic" and it won the International Brotherhood of Magicians Comedy Cup - one of the profession's top accolades.

Mr Pickles said Mr Eaton's routine often included tricks involving sausages instead of cards. He made five television appearances and for more than 20 years organised the Bradford Magic Circle's Hey Presto magic shows.

For many years, until his retirement in 1990, he worked as a parcels supervisor for Securicor.

"Almost to the end he could still make us all laugh with the timing of his lines, and his recollections of his truly superb career, the likes of which we will never see again," said Mr Pickles.

Mr Eaton, whose house in Ashbourne Road, Bolton, Bradford, is called The Wand, leaves a wife, Vera, and son, Robert. His funeral is at Nab Wood Crematorium tomorrow at noon.