A popular man who was due to mary his fiance next year has died.

Stuart Haythorpe, 53, of Earls Colne had been diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer when he went to see his GP with a stomach ache in April.

The father-of-one proposed to his girlfriend, Sally Hoskin, at a fundraiser organised by Vikki V’s Theatre Productions in July.

Stuart had undergone chemotherapy at Colchester General Hospital and had had an operation to have a stent - a tube used to relieve the symptoms of pancreatic cancer - fitted.

However, he died on Saturday just after 5am after taking a sudden turn for the worse.

Sally said: “We had met in the Indian in Earls Colne in May and we hit it off straight away.

“We had been happy together ever since.

“He was just so lovely and he didn’t have a bad bone in his body.

“Everyone just got on well with him and respected him.

“We have a lot of happy memories together, including going to Norfolk after we got engaged when we had a lovely relaxed time on the beach.”

The couple were due to get married in August.