A TRAGIC accident at the Welsh Hawking Centre, Barry yesterday resulted in the death of the centre's founder and owner Ceri "Griff" Griffiths.

Pillar of the community and long time Rotary Club member and fundraiser Griff, 71, died at the University Hospital of Wales hours after sustaining injuries while felling a tree at the Weycock Cross site.

South Wales Fire and Rescue confirmed that they were called to an incident at the Hawking Centre at 3.17pm where a male had fallen from a height of around 20ft while cutting a tree with a chainsaw.

He was airlifted to hospital by the South Wales Ambulance service but died during the night.

Griff was today described as a much loved and hard working man who would be dearly missed by those who knew him and the community as a whole.

A former teacher, Griff founded the Welsh Hawking Centre - one of the Vale's most loved tourist attractions - in 1980, purchasing the old Cardiff Zoo in order to pursue his passion for working with birds of prey with his wife Norma.

His son Griff Jnr also works at the centre.

Colleague Jamie Munro, ecologist at the Hawking Centre said: "Griff was retired from the family business and it was a tragic, tragic accident which happened while he was felling a tree.

"We’re all absolutely devastated. We’re going to miss him as will a lot of the community.

"We want to thank the emergency services, they couldn't have done any more than they did. They were incredible."

As well as spending some time in recent years travelling to Dubai, where his expertise was sought in a bird breeding project, Griff was also dedicated to raising funds in the community as part of the Rotary Club - where he had twice served as president since joining in 2001.

Fellow Rotary Club member Peter Battle said: "We're absolutely shocked. He was a hard working man and an asset to the community.

"During his time in the Rotary Club he worked hard on international projects as well as a range of projects in the local community.

"He assisted the club with fundraising, and hosted the "Pork in the Park" BBQ at the Hawking Centre which was always a lot of fun and raised a lot of funds.

"He will be dearly missed by those in the club and in the community."