Aylsham county councillor Graham Rix has died suddenly aged 67 following a heart attack.He was chairman of the Liberal Democrat group on Norfolk County Council, having been elected in May 2005.

Aylsham county councillor Graham Rix has died suddenly aged 67 following a heart attack.

He was chairman of the Liberal Democrat group on Norfolk County Council, having been elected in May 2005.

As a strong believer in local services, Mr Rix was actively involved in a campaign to save St Michael's hospital at Aylsham, and was this week due to present a case for it to be kept open at a county health overview committee.

He had been a member of the party and its predecessors since the 1960s and was also on the Lib Dem Broadland executive branch, which supports its local parliamentary campaigns.

Mr Rix and his wife for 42 years Barbara moved to Norfolk, where his family has lived for more than 350 years, in 2000 - coming from Oxfordshire where he was also involved in politics.

He was a civil engineer, who specialised in concrete and foundations, and previously owned testing laboratories in Bristol and Oxfordshire as well as working in Paris giving expert advice on dams.

Mr Rix was passionate about France and French culture and owned a 550-year-old farmhouse in Normandy, as well as being involved with Aylsham's town twinning committee.

Had a keen interest in scouting and, when in Oxfordshire, was deputy county commissioner.

Lib Dem deputy group leader Jacky Howe paid tribute to Mr Rix as “a very caring man who worked hard on behalf of all the people of Aylsham”.

Mr Rix, who leaves a widow, two daughters and two grandchildren, passed away at September 20 in Buckinghamshire, where he had been staying with his daughter.

His funeral will take place on Thursday October 10 at St Andrew's church, Buxton at 2pm. The family has requested donations to Diabetes UK rather than church flowers. Those attending the service are invited to meet afterwards at Buxton village hall.