MUSICIAN, biker, former Swindon publican, trucker and bus driver Micky Kight, one of the town’s most colourful and wellknown characters and “a fighter till the end”, has died following a courageous three-year battle against cancer.

Micky, 61, who lived in Swindon most of his life, passed away at the Great Western Hospital on Thursday after being admitted following a relapse from one of the most virulent forms of cancer.

Scores of people who knew Micky, either from Swindon’s rock community, the biking fraternity, from his days driving for Barnes Coaches, Stagecoach and Thamesdown Transport, and during his time running The Park and Jacob’s Ladder pubs, have posted messages on his Facebook page.

Just a couple of weeks earlier the former motorbike racer had been spotted in Swindon doing wheelies on his mobility scooter and cheerfully making plans to get a faster one.

Micky had been in the Army, become a hippy, and raced motorbikes before drumming during the late Seventies and Eighties for Swindon bands The Humans, Rich and Famous, Lazer, After Midnight and Thrash The Rabbit.

He became a rock’n’roll trucker, hauling equipment across Europe for the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Neil Young, Rod Stewart, Genesis, Duran Duran and many others.

He almost died when his lorry jack-knifed on an Austrian mountain following a brake failure on Wacko Jacko’s tour.

In 2012 Micky underwent surgery after contracting highgrade Hodgkin, t-cell lymphoma.

“The worst type you can get,” he later said.

He thought he had beaten the disease after chemotherapy, and he was even back on the buses, but it later returned with a vengeance.

Close friend Mandy Neate said: “He was an amazing, cheeky character and shared so many incredible stories. He loved his motorbikes, Grand Prix, guitars, drums and football – and the joy of drinking, of course.”

Mandy was with Micky a few months ago when specialists said nothing more could be done to beat the cancer, but she said he courageously remained cheerful and upbeat.

“He was very brave towards his last few hours but fell asleep peacefully and in no pain. I talked to him the whole time…”

Mandy added:”I will miss him greatly – he was a true friend and gent.”

A friend for more than 30 years, Debs Donkersley, said: “Micky was a very supportive man when I needed someone to talk to, even when he was told about his cancer first time round.

“When he was told the disease had come back he was very positive and forward thinking. There was always a rainbow to chase with Micky.”

Anna Mathias, who knew Micky from watching Swindon Town, arrived at the hospital on Thursday to be told her friend had passed away ten minutes earlier.

She said: “I’m really going to miss seeing Micky at Town games.”

Anna last saw him after the first game of season three weeks ago. “I walked with him from The County Ground to The Beehive.

“Neither of us knew at the time that it would be the last time he’d make that trip. Although he was clearly struggling, he joked about wanting to get a faster mobility scooter so he could ride on the roads.

“That’s how I want to remember him – with that irrepressible, dirty laugh even when things were tough.”