Playwright Malcolm Shuttleworth has died of prostate cancer aged 75.

Mr Suttleworth, of The Garlings in Aldbourne, was born in Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, on July 10, 1939 to Lilly and Ken Shuttleworth.

He had a younger brother, Martin, and went to Wolverhampton Grammar School.

After leaving school he worked for Midlands Electricity Board and later went on to study electrical engineering at Aston University.

In 1965 he moved to Putney to work for ICL where he stayed until the early 1970s before joining Rank Film Processing.

He met his wife Marcia at a drinks party and the couple enjoyed going to jazz clubs, parties and pubs.

They married in 1971 and have two children, Jo and Paul, and two grandchildren, six-year-old Lila and Isis, two. The couple divorced in 1988.

In 1994 Mr Shuttleworth moved to Aldbourne, which he had carefully selected because it was close to the M4 so he could easily visit his friends in London.

In the village he was involved in the Dabchick magazine and Aldbourne Light Entertainment Club (ALEC).

During his time with ALEC he was secretary, chairman, committee member and stage hand.

He acted in a number of productions such as Hay Fever, Barefoot in the Park, South Pacific and Talking Heads. He also directed The Wizard of Oz, Habeas Corpus and Pound and Round the Garden.

He was an acclaimed amateur director and wrote three plays about Aldbourne, the Malt House Man, Shepherd’s Weather Glass and Bell Court, 1947 as well as Darwin’s Butler and The English Civil War.

In 2000 he was involved in producing the Millennium Book of Aldbourne: A Snapshot of the Parish at the Millennium along with David Lee and he also wrote the murder mysteries which take place in the village during the summer.

Mr Shuttleworth was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011 and died on September 20.

His funeral was held at Newbury Crematorium last Friday. Donations in his memory can be made to Cancer Research UK.