FAMILY, friends and colleagues of the charismatic former Mayor of Stourport Mick Grinnall are in shock after he died suddenly on Tuesday.

Three days earlier he had taken part in the carnival parade through the town where he was born and which he served as a councillor for more than 20 years.

His son Neil said his 65-year-old father had been passionate about politics and Stourport.

"He really, really loved being mayor of the town - if you ever went into his home you'd see lots of photographs of him in his mayor's gear," he said.

"He took a great deal of pride in the town - it meant a lot to him. He wanted to improve life in the town and keep the shops.

"He lived here and walked up and down the High Street as though it was his - not in a righteous way but as though he was the caretaker."

Mick was found dead in his flat at Swan Passage on Tuesday afternoon. It is not known how he died.

He had been a businessman for 30 years when he ran the family builders' merchant and was a committed Labour supporter.

"He was very working man-orientated. Success was always valued but I think he wanted everybody to have a piece of it," his son added.

And Neil, a champion junior swimmer as a teenager, said his father always taught him never to settle for second best.

"He watched me train day and night. When I became the best junior in the country I rang him and told him I'd broken the British record and county record.

"He said: 'Are you the best in the world?' I said no. He said: 'You're not the best yet. You'd better get back and train a bit harder'."

Neil said the family was devastated by the news and added Mick had been repairing his relationship with his former wife Pauline.

Friends were struggling to come to terms with his death. Pete Roberts, who runs Pete's Prints, saw him on Sunday when he was chatting about the carnival.

"He seemed to be as right as rain - his old jolly self. I haven't got over the shock," he said.

"He'd do anything for you. He'd have a moan and a groan just as any councillor - there was always banter between us because I'm more Tory generally but it was only good-hearted stuff."

Mr Roberts added Mick had been an active Stourport Rotary Club member. "I got involved with him doing charity work some 20 years ago and we've been mates ever since."

Mick, who served as a Wyre Forest district councillor for Stourport, was mayor in 1997-98 and again in 2001-02.

His deputy two years ago, Don Giles, said the Union flag at the Civic Centre had been lowered to half mast.

"I've been into town and people are really shocked. A gentleman who runs a fish and chip shop was almost in tears over it."

Mr Giles added: "I'm up in the High Street quite a lot and I often used to meet Mick because he used to live there.

"If you stopped to talk you were forever being interrupted by people saying 'Hello Mick, how are you?'

"He seemed to know everybody. He was a great champion for Stourport.

"He's irreplaceable."

Current Tory town mayor Stephen Clee said: "Mick was an active member of the town council and will be sadly missed by members on all sides of the council chamber.

"Personally, we were sparring partners but privately we both cared passionately about improving the lives of residents of Stourport."

Mick leaves two sons, two grandsons and two granddaughters.

The funeral arrangements have yet to be confirmed.