THE founder of Malvern's first Chinese restaurant has died.

Steve Yau, who opened the old Tai Wo restaurant, in Worcester Road, Malvern, passed away from heart failure, aged 84. Mr Yau, originally from China, left his home country in the early 1950s, after the communist regime seized his parents' farm.

His daughter Jude Wild said: "My father has always been a staunch capitalist as a result [of the seizure].

"He saw the government come and take it away from him and he decided to make a better life for himself.

"He went over to Hong Kong and became a translator in the police force.

"In 1959 he became a naturalised British citizen and then moved over in June 1960."

Mrs Wild, aged 41, from Malvern, said her father worked at Luna Chinese restaurant, in Worcester, after he moved to England.

She added: "He wanted to learn the trade from the ground up.

"Malvern didn't have a Chinese restaurant at the time so after working in Worcester for a few years he saved up money and set up the first Chinese restaurant in Malvern in April 1966.

"People were very sad when my parents retired and it closed down, it was a much-loved restaurant."

Mrs Wild said her father enjoyed gambling on the horses and was well-known for his dapper dress sense.

She added: "Every summer he would wear his Hawaiian shirt and in the winter he would be in is three-piece suit."

He brought relatives to the UK over the years and they set up other Chinese restaurants, including Worcester's Hing Tai and the predecessor to Powick's Four Seasons.

Mr Yau, who was the chairman of the Birmingham Chinese Society throughout the 1990s and 2000s, also opened the Slow Boat restaurant in Hereford in 1973.

Tai Wo, which was opposite the Foley Arms, closed when Mr Yau retired in 1997.

Mr Yau, born on September 7, 1933, is survived by his wife, Amy, aged 76, children Alexander, Elaine and Judith, and grandchildren Dominic, Amelia, Zach, Rafferty, Mateo and Mylo.

He died on August 25.