Tributes have been paid to a 'kind and gentle' father who died after being stung by a hornet.

Ade Spooner, 46, was stung by a hornet hidden in his bedding in the early hours of Saturday, August 31 and after collapsing was taken into hospital.

The father-of-one was not known to be allergic and was on life support for 10 days before dying from hypoxic brain injury.

His friend, Rich Martin, a 46-year-old sound engineer from London, described him as a family man who was "inspiring, humble and rebellious of spirit".

"Ade always put his family first," he said.

Mr Spooner had worked at Virgin Media in London since his 20s, where he held a series of senior positions and was most recently a creative director.

He moved to a rural part of Norfolk, where he developed his own brand consultancy work, a few years ago with his wife and daughter after getting to know the area through visits to friends in the county.

In his new home, Mr Spooner had started growing a vegetable patch and took great pleasure in spending time in his garden.

He was also an avid DJ and music lover, performing at house parties in the late 1980s and festivals in his spare time.

Mr Martin said: "At festival engagements, he hit upon the rise of getting dressed up as an animal - try beat matching with a panda head on and staying fashionable. As a result of this he lived and breathed crowd-pleasing eclecticism.

"He knows no other way. And at birthday parties he would spend more money on lighting rigs than he would get paid for playing.

"There was nothing Ade enjoyed more than planning a party, he loved to bring joy to people, and he was brilliant at it. The nights he organised would always be fun, silly, and surprising. He was a great DJ and loved to share his musical discoveries with friends."

To honour his creative spirit, a fireworks display was set off at his funeral.

Mr Martin said: "His family wanted to give him a send off that was as unique and brilliant as he was. Ade always did finish his DJ sets with a flourish and he would have loved this."

A fundraiser has since been set up to help his family - to donate, visit www.gofundme.com/f/fireworks-instead-of-flowers-for-ade-spooner