Tributes have been paid to the humour and public service of a town and district councillor who died last week.

John Newton, who was a Breckland District and Thetford Town councillor, died suddenly on January 11 aged 68.

He was described as an “absolutely super guy” by the mayor of Thetford, Roy Brame.

He said: “Him and I shared the Castle ward and it was lovely because this year, especially with being mayor, he was so helpful doing most of the ward work and letting me know what is happening.

“We worked together for the whole year and he has been an absolutely super guy and we are going to miss him.”

Mr Newton was first elected on to both councils in May, 2015 for UKIP.

Mr Brame said he was notorious for his jokes and his hard work for the community. He said: “It was the silly little things like when I was in a meeting about the Charles Burrell Museum and was getting worked up about the fact work was not being done fast enough.

“At the end, John just looked at me and said ‘Roy, I think you are getting steamed up’ and that was John all the time. It didn’t matter where we were, he would find that remark.

“You couldn’t ask for a better councillor. Him and I got into district at the last election and we had worked together for many different things.

“He just didn’t stop and was forever emailing and trying to get people to do something. I don’t think the family realise quite how much he will be missed by us as a council and by residents.”

Terry Jermy, a county, district and town councillor, also paid tribute to Mr Newton’s sense of humour.

He said: “The thing about John was that while we disagreed about a lot of political things but we never lost the banter and humour between us.

“He had a joke for everything and he was genuinely funny, and when you are sat in a council meeting for hours we could always rely on him for a bit of banter.”

In a statement his Mr Newton’s family said: “Dearly loved husband, dad, granddad, brother and friend to many. You will be missed so deeply, love you always”.

A funeral service will be held at St Edmunds Chapel, West Suffolk Crematorium on January 24 at 3pm.

A show of respect at the next Town Council meeting will be held in memory of Mr Newton.

A spokesman for the Town Council said: “It is with deep sadness that the Town Council informs the public of the passing of councillor John Newton.

“The thoughts of everyone at Thetford Town Council are with John’s family and friends at this sad time.”