TRIBUTES have been paid to a much-loved dad with a “heart of gold” after his tragic death in Westcliff.

Gary Hindle, 53, passed away at the scene of a violent attack in Hamlet Court Road on Thursday, leaving his family heartbroken.

Dozens of residents have also flooded social media with tributes to Gary over the weekend, paying tribute to him and offering their condolences to his family.

Gary’s sister, Teresa Hindle, told the Echo the whole family had been left shocked and devastated by the death of Gary - a son, dad, brother and partner.

A second victim was also taken to hospital with serious injuries after the attack.

On Saturday, 55-year-old Barry Mooney, of Crowstone Road, Westcliff, was charged with murder, attempted murder, and possession of a bladed or pointed article.

Teresa said: “We are all shocked and devastated by the loss of our much-loved son, dad, brother and partner.

“He has been taken from us in such a tragic way and it’s something no family should ever have to go through.

“Gary was one of a kind and had a heart of gold.

“He touched so many lives and will be greatly missed by the many people who loved him dearly.”

Following the tragic incident, Martin Terry, councillor responsible for community safety, insisted the council and police are working hard to tackle issues in the area and sent his condolences to the family and friends of Gary following the “deeply upsetting” incident.

Mr Terry said: “This is an absolutely awful event and in particular occurring while we have the Knife Angel in town. Any incident like this is unacceptable in our community and our community safety team, CCTV and police regularly focus on this area which is regularly congregated on by street drinkers.

“It is incredibly sad someone lost their life and I extend my condolences to the family.

“I want to reassure the community the council amended the budget and increased the size of the community safety team, police have increased their numbers and we have invested in CCTV, people must be reassured we have good support in the city for these issues, it is a very sad occurrence and it deeply upsets me. I will fight tooth and nail as portfolio holder for community safety to keep the people of Southend safe.”