Tributes have flooded in for a popular father who died suddenly this week.

Jay Chandler, of Boughton Monchelsea, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday morning, sparking an outpouring of grief. The cause of the 40-year-old’s death is not yet clear.

He leaves wife Hannah, 31, and sons Jacob, 19, and Charlie, 6.

Two fundraising pages have been set up in his memory – one to help with funeral costs and another as a trust fund for his youngest son.

In a post online, Mrs Chandler said: “Your kindness is what I’ve been holding on to so much in these few hours. He was my everything and then some. My heart is so sad and forever broken, Charlie is doing OK after us telling him today.

“I just want you all to know I’ll be holding on to these promises to help us as I’ve just lost my main boy forever and my other main boy needs all of us to talk about his daddy.”

Family and friends paid tribute to the father-of-two, saying: “Jay was a much loved husband, father, son, brother and friend. Everyone he touched felt a special connection with him.

“You could not have wanted to meet and kinder, more caring individual. He was a gift that has been taken away from all who he loved and all who loved him.”

Dave Woodger, a close friend of the former Simon Langton Grammar School, Canterbury, pupil, said he was extremely popular and loved cars and motorbikes.

He added: “Jay was the most fashionable and stylish person you could meet. He was the best dressed man in the room and could just throw something on and look good, much to the annoyance of his friends!”

Mr Chandler, a quantity surveyor at Galliford Try, was a familiar face at Park Wood’s Ironworks Gymnasium, having previously been a member at Bob Prowse, in Armstrong Road, and Lockmeadow’s David Lloyd.

Ironworks posted a tribute to Mr Chandler online, which read: “Jay was truly one of the good guys – a hugely likable, charming, funny and kind man who genuinely enriched my, and many other’s lives. He will be sorely missed. RIP brother.”

The funeral fund raised more than £4,000 in less than two days, while the trust fund page hopes to raise £5,000.