FORMER church leader and computer expert, Peter Lunn, has died at the age of 57.

Peter was born in Singapore in November 1958 before he moved to Bournemouth where he attended Winton Boys School.

He went on to marry his wife, Linda, who was born and brought up in Bournemouth, in 1984, and together they welcomed three children, Grace, Ben and Rebekah.

The couple appeared in Daily Echo on April 16, 1992 in a piece about a new church opening at Hill View Primary School, on Hill View Road, in Bournemouth, despite many churches 'facing an uncertain future'.

This was an extension of Winton Evangelical Church and Peter said that he would be leading the new church from Easter Sunday with his wife, Linda.

At the time, Mr Lunn lived at Denmark Road in Winton and said that he turned to religion after 'life-saving' operation in 1983 changed his way of thinking. He told Daily Echo: "They always say that it takes a sinking ship before someone gets down to pray. I worked with computers so becoming a church leader was a totally new challenge."

In the year 1989/90, they went to London to do a church planting and evangelism course before returning to Dorset.

Peter joined the team at Cracking Media, a digital service agency based in Moordown, later becoming a partner in the business.

In a post on the company's Facebook page, they said that Peter will be sorely missed and that they will move forward with his ethos continuing to be a part of the way that they do business.

Peter was also a keen Cherries fan for just under 50 years and took great delight in seeing his team promoted to the Premier League last year.

He passed away at home on July 4 following time spent in Bournemouth and later Southampton General Hospitals earlier this year.

A service of thanksgiving to mark Peter's life takes place today at The Life Centre on Wimborne Road today (Jul22) at 3pm.

Donations will go to the charity Crohn's and Colitis UK, which are the two main forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, affecting more than 300,000 people in the UK.