FORMER professional wrestler Les Kellett has died in an Ilkley nursing home at the age of 86.

He moved into the nursing home two years ago and died peacefully in his sleep, his son Christopher Kellett said.

Les Kellett will be remembered as one of professional wrestling's genuinely tough characters.

Although he acted as 'daft as a brush' in the ring, he fought his way to the sport's light heavyweight championship of Britain.

Pretending to be dazed, he would stagger about the ring, lure his opponent on to him and then snap into action with a series of tremendous forearm smashes - the Les Kellett trademark.

He was born in Laisterdyke and became an engineer after leaving school at the age of 14.

He learned amateur wrestling and took it up professionally after wartime service in the Merchant Navy.

In the 1950s he was earning £40 to £50 a bout depending on the size and location of the hall. But with the advent of televised wrestling on a Saturday afternoon in the 1960s, he became a household name.

Christopher said: "He was nominated for Sports Personality of the Year in 1967 or 68.

That was ITV's World of Sport equivalent to the BBC1 award.

"He taught Sir Jimmy Savile wrestling and Harvey Smith - he once fancied himself as a wrestler.

"He was presented to Prince Philip at the Royal Albert Hall in the 1970s."

Christopher said that his father used to train with Man of Iron Alan Dennison in a stone outbuilding at Denholme with water running down the walls.

Les Kellett was at Southport in 1984 when Dennison, then aged 52, collapsed and died after a contest against Dave Duran.

"When Alan passed away, my dad was upset about that. He became very disheartened at the way professional wrestling was going in the 1970s.

"The show business and the acting. Guys who fought in the 1950s and 60s were tough men who could really fight."

For many years Les and his wife lived in an old black and white house on Thornton Road, Bradford. The building contained a caf called The Terminus which Mrs Kellett ran.

Les Kellett leaves a widow, Margaret, Christopher and two grandchildren, Robert and Keeley.

His other son, David, which whom he used to wrestle as tag partner, died two years ago.