Friends and family of a swimmer who died while trying to cross the English Channel have spoken of their shock at the loss of a "true inspiration and gentleman".

Douglas Waymark, who was in his 40s, got into difficulty around 12 miles off the coast of Dover last night.

He was pulled from the water and flown to hospital by the coastguard helicopter, but sadly could not be saved.

His loved ones have since said they take comfort knowing he died doing what he loved.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Jo Ikel said: "For all those following the recent updates, Douglas Waymark has not completed his Channel swim.

"Last night he felt he could no longer continue his quest and swam to the boat supporting him.

"He passed out and was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Ashford. At around midnight, he sadly died.

"We are all devastated but take comfort in him doing what he loved best to the very end."

Graham Fletcher added: "All of us who knew Douglas Waymark, will have so many memories of him, shared some great times with him, I am, as I'm sure you will be devastated by the news this morning."

Mr Waymark, thought to be from Cheltenham, was attempting the Enduroman Arch 2 Arc Triathlon, a continuous triathlon from Marble Arch in London to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

He had already completed an 87 mile run to Dover before attempting to swim the Channel. The original plan was for him to then undertake a 182 mile cycle ride to Paris.

Enduroman Events was live tweeting his progress.

Tragically, the final tweet posted at 8.47pm yesterday said: "2030 water taken. Moon is rising behind a cloud over Calais. Air temp dropping, light fading. #DougWaymark swims on. #Arch2Arc."

Emergency services were alerted at 9.20pm.

The Coastguard helicopter based at Lydd arrived at about 9.30pm and airlifted Mr Waymark to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: “Last night at around 9.20pm, UK Coastguard received a VHF Radio call from a support vessel reporting that a cross channel swimmer was in difficulty and needed assistance.

“The vessel was in French waters around 12nm (nautical miles) from Dover.

“The UK Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Lydd, which was training nearby, arrived on scene within 10 minutes and airlifted the swimmer to the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford."

Kent Police said they were aware of the incident but were not treating the death as suspicious.

On his Facebook page, Mr Waymark posted about the challenge last Thursday.

He said: “In the next few days I shall be attempting the Enduroman Arch 2 Arc Triathlon, a continuous triathlon from Marble Arch in London to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

“Its an 87 mile run to Dover, swim the channel and then cycle the 182 mile to Paris (If you say it quickly it sounds easy).

“This will arguably be the toughest thing I have ever attempted just 25 people have completed it and of the last six attempts none have been successful.”

When I actually start is very weather dependent but I am hoping to get going on Friday night (August 4) to the early hours of Saturday, assuming there will be a swim window on Sunday.”

Mr Waymark is thought to be the 10th swimmer to die while attempting to cross the Channel.