The daughter of the man who died after his car fell from a cliff in Kingsdown says he was a loving husband, father and grandfather.

Andrew Perry, 56, from Cavell Square, Deal, is believed to have died as a result of the fall on Monday despite emergency services efforts to save him.

His daughter, Janine Walton said: “The most important thing is that him and my mum were married for 35 years and he was a dedicated husband and he loved my mum with all his heart.”

Mr Perry was married to Jacqueline Perry, 53, and had three children - Janine, Gavin and Brynley - as well as six grandchildren.

Mrs Walton added: “With my children he would read them stories and they would all huddle together and he would read their favourite story Peace at Last and we just hope that he has peace at last now.”

Police were called to the area at 12.19pm following reports the body of a man was found in a vehicle at the bottom of the cliffs.

Mrs Walton said her father, a former gas service technician, was involved in an accident seven years ago which left him unable to work.

She said: “He had seven years of rehabilitation, surgery, medical treatments and the fact that he couldn’t work any longer led to him not being himself.”

Mr Perry was taking a course so that he could go back to work. His family got the results that he had passed on Tuesday, a day after his death.

Mrs Walton would like to thank all those who have offered their support as well as the emergency services who were at the scene.

Firefighters received a call at 1.11pm.

Crew manager Dan Yates said: “We met police on the scene. The main difficulty we had was the distance the car was from anywhere. We couldn’t get the fire engines any closer. We had to get an all-terrain vehicle from Herne Bay and a Land Rover from Deal and we were walking with our equipment.”

He added: “They were very difficult, arduous conditions. Communication was difficult and we were being chased by the tide.

“The car was so badly smashed. We were able to extricate the gentleman, place him on a stretcher and give him to the lifeboat crews.”

The lifeboat and crew were launched to help with the recovery of the body. A spokesman said: “The crew transported the body by sea from under the cliffs to the beach at Kingsdown.”

The Coastguard was also on the scene. Spokesman Peter Davenport said: “We attended as safety officers because of the danger of the rising tide. The tide started coming in at 4.30pm.”

He explained that this was the point when firefighters realised they were up against the clock as the incoming tide could pose a danger to those at the scene.