TRIBUTES have been paid to a man who died suddenly after he collapsed at a pub where he was a regular.

Derek 'Del' Smart is thought to have suffered a heart attack as he ordered a drink at the Sandpiper on Bure Lane last Thursday.

Staff rushed to help the 53-year-old - described as a friend rather than a punter - as they held his head, conducted CPR and called the emergency services.

John O'Brien who knew Mr Smart for 10 years said: "He was my best friend. He was everyone's best friend.

"He must have been the most popular man that Christchurch has ever known; a really funny man.

"When you were down or unhappy or if you were joyful - whatever life threw at you - he was there to put a smile on your face. Just a brilliant guy.

"It is horrific what happened. You hear these stories about legends - this man was a legend.

"He came from an excellent background and the only people he ever thought about were his family."

Mr Smart was Mr O'Brien's best man.

"We spent every day together over the last two years," he said, speaking about Mr Smart's work as a builder. "He was just an amazing man."

Another person who knew Mr Smart, who asked not to be named, said she'd known Mr Smart since she was a child, describing him as a "proper man's man".

She said: "He would always be in the pub by 3pm. He'd done it for years. He was just drinking with a friend. They were having a laugh about Chelsea FC and then that's when it all went horribly wrong."

She said Mr Smart was ordering a drink when he collapsed and smacked his head on the bar with such force he lost consciousness and fell backwards.

"Staff are traumatised," she added. "They're not coping very well at all. They're the ones who had to help him.

"Everyone thought he was just joking around - that's the sort of man he was."

Bar staff called the ambulance while another held his head. One customer stepped forward to carry out compressions until the paramedics arrived. Six of them arrived and continued CPR.

It was around 45 minutes until he was safely taken by ambulance to Royal Bournemouth Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The unnamed person added: "Everyone is very shocked and struggling with it all."

Mr Smart leaves behind his son Joseph and partner Lois.