Tributes have been paid to a "good, honest, fair-minded" local councillor who died shortly after making an after dinner speech.

Keith Stone, 65, collapsed from a suspected heart attack on Saturday evening at a St George's Day fundraising dinner, organised by Carterton Town Council, at Greens Restaurant in Witney.

He served on West Oxfordshire District Council from 1982 and had been chairman since May last year.

Mr Stone was also a Carterton town councillor since 1980 and was twice town mayor, as well as being a Conservative county councillor since 2005.

Barry Norton, Tory leader of the district council, said: "Keith has served Carterton and West Oxfordshire with distinction for many years, bringing a calmness and wisdom to the local authorities on which he served.

"As the present district council chairman, he was held in high esteem for the dignity he has brought to that office."

Derrick Millard, independent councillor, said: "I knew Keith for 30 years and he was a good, honest councillor, very fair-minded and extremely kind-hearted man who did his best for his constituents."

The Liberal Democrat group leader Stuart Brooks said: "The news was a terrible shock to everyone and our thoughts go out to his relatives.

"Keith was a man of integrity and, although we had political differences, he always treated everyone in a fair manner."

Mr Stone grew up in Stanton Harcourt and went to Henry Box School in Witney, where he met his future wife Sheila. They moved to Carterton in 1966 and raised their daughters Lisa and Helen there. He worked for Oxford University as an administrator in the careers department and had recently retired.

He and his wife lived at Humphries Close, Carterton, and their two married daughters are now living in London and Essex.

Family friend and fellow Carterton town councillor Maxine Crossland said: "He died as he had lived, surrounded by friends, with a joke on his lips, representing his district at our St George's Day dinner.

"Keith's life has always revolved around the ethic of serving others - as a boy in the Scouts, as a sportsman and referee, as a school governor and, since 1980, as a councillor."