A council stalwart has died after a lengthy illness.

Dozens of people have paid tribute to West Sussex County Councillor Ken Eade who had served the Southwick ward since 2005.

Mr Eade passed away on June 6 after a long illness leaving a wife, Carol, and three children.

He was elected to the county council in May 2005, and was a policy adviser to Pat Arculus, the Cabinet member for adults' services.

He also served as a member of the council's Rights of Way committee and the Strategic Environmental Services Select committee.

Mr Eade, who was in his late 60s, was a retired export sales manager who had lived in Southwick for 35 years.

He was an Adur District conservative councillor for the Hillside ward after his election to the post in May 2003. He was also chairman of the council's development and scrutiny committee from July 2004 as well as the licencing committee and constitutional panel.

County council leader Henry Smith said: "Ken had only been a county councillor for a comparatively short time, but during that time he made his mark, and gave sterling service to his local residents, and the wider community of West Sussex.

"The spirit of his character shone through the adversity he faced throughout his illness. He was determined to live life to the fullest extent and that was inspirational."

Pat Arculus said: "As well as being a charming person, Ken was a tower of strength to me during his time as an adviser and fully committed to improving the services we provide to adults across our county."

Neil Parkin, leader of Adur District Council, said: "He was one of life's true gentlemen. He was also a very good businessman, although he had retired.

"He was the greatest political campaigner at local level I have ever seen. He probably spoke to about 98 per cent of the people in his ward. His election majorities also reflected that.

"He was an electioneering machine and will be sorely missed by the residents of Southwick. He had not represented that area for long but he had already started to make a difference."

A by-election date will be announced over the next few weeks.