Tributes have been paid to one of the county’s most prominent public health experts following his death.

It has been announced that James Williams died in hospital after a short illness - he was in his late 50s.

The former soldier worked as Medway Council’s director of public health for seven years - and helped shepherd the Towns through the pandemic.

His ambition was to improve community health and wellbeing and under his leadership his team supported tens of thousands of residents through the multi-award-winning A Better Medway programmes.

He will be remembered for his leadership in Medway and across Kent in leading the response to Covid.

His knowledge, expertise, drive and direction ensured the council and partners were able to keep people safe - his work helped save many lives.

He was instrumental in bringing the South East’s first Covid testing centres to Medway in the winter of 2020 offering targeted community testing for those without symptoms.

He was also a major player in addressing regional health inequalities across the South East and was one of the key leaders in the recent work to transform the health systems in Kent and Medway.

Away from his day job, he was also highly regarded and involved at the top levels of fencing in Britain, representing our country in three Olympic Games - Barcelona 1992; Atlanta 1996, and Sydney 2000.

After retiring from the sport he continued developing and coaching young talent and was the official commentator and presenter for fencing at London 2012.

He was passionate about the benefits sport and recreation can bring to improve the lives of communities and address inequalities.

He started fencing while in the Army where he served for more than 10 years before moving into public health.

Several tributes have been paid following his passing.

Deputy council leader Cllr Teresa Murray, who is also portfolio holder for public health, said: “James’ leadership of Medway’s response to Covid was extraordinary and exemplary, orchestrating many local initiatives to help protect lives and he was a trusted local and national voice helping people to stay safe throughout the pandemic.

“We are also very proud of the role he played in shaping the transformation of the NHS services within Kent and Medway and in the wider public health agenda across the South East. James will be incredibly missed.”

Council leader Cllr Vince Maple said: “James was an inspirational leader and leaves an impressive legacy and we are determined that we will continue the important work he put in place.

“We will miss James enormously as a person – his positivity and wonderful sense of humour. He took an interest in everyone he met and inspired us all to be better people. Our thoughts are with James’ family at this sad time.”

Council chief executive Richard Hicks said: “Unfailingly positive, James was highly regarded and held in deep affection by all those who knew him and worked with him. He will be greatly missed but leaves a legacy that we can all be proud of. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”

Medway’s three MPs - Tracey Crouch, Kelly Tolhurst and Rehman Chishti - have released a joint statement.

It says: “We are devastated to hear about the sudden death of James.

“He worked with us tirelessly for a number of years on a variety of different issues.

“Not only was he was instrumental in ensuring that our constituents had easy access to Covid vaccinations at the height of the pandemic but he continued to champion public health improvements in every shape and form.

“Furthermore, at times, he reached out privately when we have faced our own health challenges.”

In addition to his role at the council, James also sat on a number of local boards including governorship of MidKent College,and was a trustee of the Rochester Cathedral Trust.