A FORMER sportsman, soldier and businessman, Richard Douglas Wells, has died just weeks after his 90th birthday.

Mr Wells, known as Dougie to his family and friends, was born in 1914 and educated at Maidstone Grammar School.

He was a keen sportsman in his youth and a member of the Maidstone Harriers. He won the National Junior Championship in the 440-yard event at White City in 1933 and was in line for a place in the British squad for 1940 Olympics - which never took place because of the Second World War.

He signed up at the outbreak of hostilities in 1939, and after training passed out with a commission as a Second Lieutenant with The Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs).

In 1940 he was posted to India where he spent the next six years, much of it on the North West Frontier. At one stage he found himself in command of a hill fort with only native troops who spoke no English, and he was obliged to learn Hindustani - an ability he kept for many years, surprising many a waiter in Indian restaurants at home.

He rose steadily through the ranks, making Major and was for a period Acting Colonel. At one time, he was assigned to the guard detail for Mahatma Gandhi, during the period that the future Indian prime minister was incarcerated by the British.

Returning to England in 1946, Mr Wells realised his own fitness was past its peak as far as running was concerned, and so dedicated himself to training other runners in the county. His special contribution was recognised in 1948 when he was awarded the task of overseeing the progress of the Olympic torch as it passed through Kent from Dover to London. His family still has the torch.

On leaving the Army, he joined the Midland Employers Mutual Insurance Company, based in Market Buildings, Maidstone, but after gaining the necessary qualifications at night school, he later set up his own independent insurance business Wells Insurance, which he ran successfully until retirement, along the way serving as the President of the Mid Kent Insurance Institute.

He also took up golf, becoming both president and captain of the Faversham Golf Club, which flew their flag at half-mast on Wednesday in his honour.

In 1939, Mr Wells married Nina Laker, whose father owned the Laker greengrocery stores in Penenden Heath and Stone Street, in Maidstone.

The couple moved from Penenden Heath to Bockingford Court in the Loose Valley in 1951 where they remained for the next 53 years. They had no children but helped raise their niece, Helen Atkinson, after her father was killed in the war.

Mr Wellls had an extensive wider family, and the house was the scene of many family celebrations over the years, not least his own 90th birthday party just weeks before his death.

He was diagnosed with bowel cancer in July 2003 and died of a secondary cancer in the liver. His niece Helen Atkinson said: "He was generous with everything, but especially with his time. He had a wicked sense of humour and was very much loved by a great many people."