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A flamboyant former miner who became the owner of the Segway motorised scooter company died in a freak accident yesterday by sliding one of the upright two-wheelers off a cliff.
Jimi Heselden, who latched on to an international craze for the electric vehicles, was testing a cross-country version when he skidded into the river Wharfe which runs close to his Yorkshire estate.
Police said the 62-year-old's body was found in the river at Boston Spa, five miles from the Leeds factory where he made his fortune from defence contracts.
Using redundancy money from his pit job, he invented a wire basket crammed with earth and water which proved far more effective than sandbags against mortar and missile attacks.
His personal fortune was estimated at £166m and had earned him 395th place on this year's Sunday Times' Rich List. West Yorkshire police said that the scooter had been found nearby after the body had been reported by a local walker at 11.40am.
"Mr Heselden was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The incident is not believed to be suspicious and the coroner has been informed," said a spokesman for the force. A dozen family members left floral tributes at the scene, where the river runs below 10 metre high banks.
Heselden led a British team which struck the deal to buy Segway in December last year. The firm was started by inventor Dean Kamen in 1999 after he developed the two-wheeled, self-balancing vehicle.
Heselden lived close to the British Library's vast storage depot at Thorp Arch, a village on the other side of the river from the small, sought-after town of Boston Spa.
He lost his mining job in the pit closures after the 1984-5 miners' strike, but put his knowledge of geology and soil science to good use. Updating the medieval defence system of gabions – baskets filled with stones and crammed together to create makeshift walls – he patented the Bastion and started the Hesco firm.
Its Leeds base lends colour to an otherwise drab industrial estate, with a surplus tank perched beside a wall of Bastions. Heselden did not court personal publicity but rewarded loyalty in his workforce and was one of Yorkshire's most generous private benefactors of charities.
When Hesco won an order for UN forces in Kosovo and fulfilled it within deadline, he flew 21 staff to Benidorm for a holiday. In five years after first ordering a Bastion in 1998 the Pentagon spent £53m on them.
Heselden bought the Segway company in January this year, after commissioning a financial analysis of its success in the US.
The Segway scooter has been heavily marketed as a "green commute" but buyers are warned to take a string of safety precautions, including wearing a helmet. George W Bush dramatically illustrated the hazards in 2003. The then president was photographed on holiday in Maine, leaping from one after losing control.
His vice-president Dick Cheney rode one of the scooters round his Washington office complex while suffering from an ankle injury and was widely quoted as recommending them as equipment for US special forces.
Heselden was born and brought up on Halton Moor, a large council estate in east Leeds made famous by the writer Keith Waterhouse, whose family moved there when he was a schoolboy.
Heselden stayed in touch with local people and was a major donor to charities in the Leeds area or with military links, such as Help for Heroes.
A statement from Hesco this morning said: "It is with great sadness that we have to confirm that Jimi Heselden OBE has died in a tragic accident near his home. Jimi is perhaps best known for his charity work with Help for Heroes and the Leeds Community Foundation.
"A £10m gift to the foundation earlier this month saw his lifetime charitable donations top £23m. Our thoughts go out to his family and many friends, who have asked for privacy at this time."
Heselden told the Yorkshire Post earlier this year: "There are people out there who are making money and when times are good I honestly believe people have a moral obligation to use their wealth to help others.
"Life turned out pretty well for me, but I still work in the same area where I grew up and every day I see people who for whatever reason are down on their luck."
The chief executive of Leeds Community Foundation, Sally-Anne Greenfield, said: "He was the kind of person that people call salt of the earth.
"He did not have any airs and graces and was not giving the money to gain publicity or to boast about his success, but just because he wanted to make a difference."
Jimi Heselden, who latched on to an international craze for the electric vehicles, was testing a cross-country version when he skidded into the river Wharfe which runs close to his Yorkshire estate.
Police said the 62-year-old's body was found in the river at Boston Spa, five miles from the Leeds factory where he made his fortune from defence contracts.
Using redundancy money from his pit job, he invented a wire basket crammed with earth and water which proved far more effective than sandbags against mortar and missile attacks.
His personal fortune was estimated at £166m and had earned him 395th place on this year's Sunday Times' Rich List. West Yorkshire police said that the scooter had been found nearby after the body had been reported by a local walker at 11.40am.
"Mr Heselden was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The incident is not believed to be suspicious and the coroner has been informed," said a spokesman for the force. A dozen family members left floral tributes at the scene, where the river runs below 10 metre high banks.
Heselden led a British team which struck the deal to buy Segway in December last year. The firm was started by inventor Dean Kamen in 1999 after he developed the two-wheeled, self-balancing vehicle.
Heselden lived close to the British Library's vast storage depot at Thorp Arch, a village on the other side of the river from the small, sought-after town of Boston Spa.
He lost his mining job in the pit closures after the 1984-5 miners' strike, but put his knowledge of geology and soil science to good use. Updating the medieval defence system of gabions – baskets filled with stones and crammed together to create makeshift walls – he patented the Bastion and started the Hesco firm.
Its Leeds base lends colour to an otherwise drab industrial estate, with a surplus tank perched beside a wall of Bastions. Heselden did not court personal publicity but rewarded loyalty in his workforce and was one of Yorkshire's most generous private benefactors of charities.
When Hesco won an order for UN forces in Kosovo and fulfilled it within deadline, he flew 21 staff to Benidorm for a holiday. In five years after first ordering a Bastion in 1998 the Pentagon spent £53m on them.
Heselden bought the Segway company in January this year, after commissioning a financial analysis of its success in the US.
The Segway scooter has been heavily marketed as a "green commute" but buyers are warned to take a string of safety precautions, including wearing a helmet. George W Bush dramatically illustrated the hazards in 2003. The then president was photographed on holiday in Maine, leaping from one after losing control.
His vice-president Dick Cheney rode one of the scooters round his Washington office complex while suffering from an ankle injury and was widely quoted as recommending them as equipment for US special forces.
Heselden was born and brought up on Halton Moor, a large council estate in east Leeds made famous by the writer Keith Waterhouse, whose family moved there when he was a schoolboy.
Heselden stayed in touch with local people and was a major donor to charities in the Leeds area or with military links, such as Help for Heroes.
A statement from Hesco this morning said: "It is with great sadness that we have to confirm that Jimi Heselden OBE has died in a tragic accident near his home. Jimi is perhaps best known for his charity work with Help for Heroes and the Leeds Community Foundation.
"A £10m gift to the foundation earlier this month saw his lifetime charitable donations top £23m. Our thoughts go out to his family and many friends, who have asked for privacy at this time."
Heselden told the Yorkshire Post earlier this year: "There are people out there who are making money and when times are good I honestly believe people have a moral obligation to use their wealth to help others.
"Life turned out pretty well for me, but I still work in the same area where I grew up and every day I see people who for whatever reason are down on their luck."
The chief executive of Leeds Community Foundation, Sally-Anne Greenfield, said: "He was the kind of person that people call salt of the earth.
"He did not have any airs and graces and was not giving the money to gain publicity or to boast about his success, but just because he wanted to make a difference."
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