TRIBUTES have been paid by friends and colleagues to a former manager of Herriots Hotel in Skipton who has died at the age of 61.

David Oliver retired in April last year after more than a decade as general manager of the hotel and moved to the outskirts of London with his wife Viv to be nearer the couple’s children, Adam and Faye.

He was also a former president of Skipton Rugby Club and a long-standing member of the town’s Chamber of Trade.

Herriots Hotel proprietor Michele Graham-Roe said: “We are all deeply shocked. Dave was very well-liked by the staff and he was an excellent manager - always there to greet our guests at breakfast."

“He was deeply involved in the life of Skipton and was very active in the Chamber of Trade. He was looking forward to spending more time with his family. We are all deeply saddened by his loss.”

A minibus from the hotel took members of staff and some regular guests of the hotel who knew Mr Oliver to pay their respects at the funeral, which was held in Newcastle-under-Lyme, near Mr Oliver’s home town of Stoke in Staffordshire.