POPULAR Roman Catholic priest Father Tony Battle died last week aged 62.

A service will be held at St Mary's Cathedral, in Newcastle, where he served much of his ministry.

Father Battle, who for the past three years was parish priest at St Patrick's in Langley Moor, Durham City, died on Monday, in the Marie Curie Centre, Elswick, Newcastle, after a short illness.

Bishop Kevin Dunn, Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, led the tributes to the priest, who made headlines in 1990 when he led protests against the introduction of the poll tax.

Bishop Dunn said: "He was a good man and a good priest, who will be sadly missed by many people in the diocese. He stood up for what he believed in."

Father Battle was born in Washington and attended St Joseph's Primary School in his home town and St Cuthbert's Grammar School in Newcastle, before winning a scholarship to study at King's College, London.

After training in Rome, he was ordained in October 1969 and became an assistant priest at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle.

In 1979, he was appointed as chaplain at Newcastle University, where he served the spiritual needs of students for eight years.

Father Battle was priest at Holy Rosary Church in the Teams area of Gateshead, when he was fined by magistrates in Blaydon for refusing to pay his poll tax, which he said his Christian faith obliged him to oppose.

He went on to be parish priest of the Holy Family Church in the Grindon area of Sunderland before moving to St Patrick's in July 2001.

A service, written by Father Battle before his death, will take place in the cathedral at 7pm on Wednesday.

His funeral service will take place at the cathedral on Thursday at 12.05pm, followed by cremation at Newcastle's West Road Crematorium.