Tributes paid to head chef who died suddenly at The Watering Hole beach bar

Tributes have been paid to the head chef of a Cornish beach bar who died suddenly at the venue at the weekend.

Matt Halford, 38, was found dead at The Watering Hole on Perranporth beach on Saturday 18 March. His death is not being treated as suspicious.

His colleagues have now paid tribute to him in a post on Facebook, saying Perranporth has "lost its best man and captain".

Mr Halford had worked at the bar with his brothers all of his life and has been described as being the bar's "life and soul".

The venue says it will fly its Cornish flag at half-mast until in honour of Mr Halford until his funeral.

Paying tribute, the bar's team said: "With iconic legendary places that are larger than life like The Watering Hole, these places are made by iconic legendary characters and unfortunately we lost our MVP on Saturday.

"We lost the best dad, friend, brother and worker this place will ever see and it's not easy saying this, but we will never find anyone like this again.

"Matt had worked at The Watering Hole all of his life, with his brothers Lee and Jason and three sons who have been there all of their life, along with their dad Mick, aka Mad Dog, who was a character to say the least.

"He was not just a huge part of The Watering Hole, he was The Watering Hole - the life and soul of everything that happened and would do anything for anyone.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all of Matt's family and friends as we know a lot of people are going to be hurting. The Watering Hole family will stick together as that's what he would want.

"We love you mate and can't quite believe what has happened.

"Perranporth has lost its best man and captain."