THE partner of a Chipping Norton community campaigner, who died suddenly yesterday, has spoken of his “indescribable” loss.

Gerry Alcock, who was 73, died at 3.30am on Sunday following a stroke.

His friends and family last night paid tribute to his passion for Chipping Norton and his “wonderful” quick wit.

Mr Alcock spent eight years on Chipping Norton Town Council, before standing down at May’s elections.

He campaigned for youth facilities in the town and for Chipping Norton Hospital and had lived in the area for 26 years.

The pensioner also set up and ran chippingnorton.net, which was a forum for town news and information.

His partner of 42 years, Luigi Gennari, said: “He would do anything for anyone. If any of his friends were in difficulty he would be the first to get up and help.

“He also had a great ability to turn you around to agree with him, even if you did not at the beginning.”

He added: “The loss is indescribable. There are a lot of people in the town who will greatly miss him.”

Last month, Mr Alcock told the Oxford Mail how fed up he was with newspaper coverage of a group of media movers and shakers dubbed the “Chipping Norton set”.

He said: “I think it’s a terrible shame that these spivs have brought the town’s name into disrepute.”

Mr Alcock’s friend, Keith Greenwall, said: “If you read the forum, you would come to the conclusion that Gerry was anti everything.

“In fact, he was just the opposite. He believed in Chipping Norton and was massively involved in the town.

“He could be incredibly kind and generous and the people who knew him will miss him immensely. He was highly intelligent, extremely articulate and had a great wit. You could have superb arguments with him.

“We used to meet in the Crown and Cushion and very often we would be sitting there and Gerry would say ‘who can we wind up this week?’.”

Hilary Biles, who represents Chipping Norton on Oxfordshire County Council, was a close friend.

She said: “He touched all of our lives at some point, either personally or through his work as a councillor.

“He was eloquent, wonderfully quick-witted and was passionate for Chipping Norton.”

Chipping Norton mayor Chris Butterworth said: “It is a shock to the town. I found him entertaining to talk to and he was extremely knowledgeable on local issues.”

Mr Alcock was born in north London and attended Mill Hill Grammar School. He started his career as an English teacher, before joining Unilever and travelling around Scotland selling soap.

He worked his way up the company and became its marketing director for northern Europe.

In the 1980s, he left the company and formed his own marketing firm, Brand Positioning Services, which worked with, among others, the BBC and British Airways.