A TRIBUTE has been paid to a former parish councillor and community champion for Bromsgrove who has died at the age of 53.

Dean Smith passed away whilst visiting friends on holiday.

Founder of Bromsgrove TV, Dean chaired many council hustings in an attempt to increase local engagement between the community and local government.

He had been working with councillor Shirley Webb setting up a service to support those suffering with mental health issues

Colleague and friend, councillor Michael Thompson said: “It is far easier to say who Dean was, rather than what he was.

“His want to better the lives of others and to put himself before the needs of others was unrivalled. I knew him as a friend and a colleague.

“There was never a time you would bump into Dean where he wouldn’t be smiling or enthusing about a community project, he was involved in.

“Dean was always wonderfully objective in politics, always one to reach out to all sides for the betterment of Bromsgrove.”

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Cllr Thompson added that Dean was a “strong believer in local communities, exemplified by his roles on and with the parish and district councils, respectively.”

Dean who leaves behind daughter Katie and father, Ken served 12 years in the army reserves.

A remembrance service for Dean is set to be held at All Angels Church, Stoke Prior at 11 am on September 14 followed by a wake at the Hanbury Turn Pub.