Tributes paid to hard working Northampton volunteer and former police officer who died aged 67

Tributes have been paid to a hard working Northampton volunteer and former police motorcyclist who died aged 67.

David Pratt who was born in Northampton, died on June 9 after a short battle with aggressive metastatic melanoma, which was discovered in January this year.

Dave grew up in Rawley Crescent, Duston with his parents, his sister Margaret and brother Andy. He moved away aged 21.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The 67-year-old served for 30 years with Surrey Police, most of it on traffic as a police motorcyclist. He was proud to have been involved in the PruTour cycling race around the UK, the Commonwealth Games, as well as being heavily involved in the Specialist Escort Group looking after royalty and politicians from all over the world.

Dave Pratt sadly passed away aged 67, after a short battle with skin cancer.placeholder image
Dave Pratt sadly passed away aged 67, after a short battle with skin cancer.

Once he completed his police service, he moved back to Duston with his wife Anne and daughter Lizzie. Dave and Anne were fortunate enough to celebrate their ruby wedding anniversary in February this year.

Following retirement, Dave volunteered for the Northampton Transport Heritage (NTH) group since it was formed in 2017 and even became a “legend” within the group for his sales stalls, which have raised “plenty of valuable funds”.

In a social media post, the group paid tribute to their “friend and long standing volunteer”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The post said: “Dave has been with us since we were formed as NTH in September 2017. Indeed, a month later his brother Andy organised a surprise bus trip to town and back for Dave's 60th birthday. Thinking he was catching a service bus to town with his wife from Main Road, we rocked up with a United Counties Bristol RE and our two Daimler CVG6's No. 154 and 267, and took Dave and his family to the town centre where he was met by the Mayor, we then took them all back to the Hopping Hare for lunch.

Dave volunteered for the Northampton Transport Heritage group from when it first began in 2017.placeholder image
Dave volunteered for the Northampton Transport Heritage group from when it first began in 2017.

“We have many memories of Dave - his "dad jokes", his mentoring, reliability, always smartly turned out, good with the public, a great support, a wealth of practical and historical knowledge and a good sense of humour.

“Dave wasn't just "front of house" conducting, stewarding or on the stall, he was a regular - week in, week out at our storage facility cleaning and maintaining our fleet, a good all rounder, hands on and leading from the front.

“He was also a legend at organising our sales stall and has saved many a day and raised plenty of valuable funds for us.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Dave has given a lifetime of public service, with well over 30 years as Police motorcyclist, escorting the rich and famous, including Royal and ministerial corteges as well as keeping us safe by dealing with criminals. He was also a lifelong rail and bus enthusiast which he put to good use by volunteering with us.

“We are incredibly sad to lose such a valuable volunteer but above all we are heartbroken to lose a good friend.”

The group provided transport for Dave’s funeral, which took place in Duston on Friday June 27. More than 100 people were in attendance and two standard bearers were provided by the Ceremonial Association of Surrey Police (CASPER). Two motorcycle outriders also joined the cortege.

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

News you can trust since 1931
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice