POPULAR thatcher Christopher Graham Thornton White, who has died at the age of 46, will be missed by his friends and family.

Born near Cirencester in Gloucestershire in 1954, Mr White, of Downley, moved to High Wycombe in 1984 where he met his wife Ann.

In 1987 the couple married and the same year Mr White set up a roof thatching company, Cotswold and Chiltern Master Thatchers Ltd, based in Hughenden Avenue, High Wycombe.

He was a regular contributor to the Thatchline Magazine, and had his own column called Christopher White's Clinic, which was first featured in the magazine in 1990.

In 1990 he won a prestigious award, the Churchill Travelling Fellowship, which enabled him to travel throughout Europe and the USA studying the thatching industry.

He also featured in a popular USA television show, This Old House.

Mr White was a popular and well-known figure in the Downley community, and was appointed as a magistrate in Buckinghamshire in 1994.

In 1998 Mrs White gave birth to twin daughters Alice and Charlotte, now aged three-and-a-half.

Tributes for Mr White have come flooding in and he has been described as a "thoroughly kind, generous and genuine man".