A council member has paid tribute to a colleague who died suddenly over the weekend.

Robert Gordon Leader of Hertfordshire County Council died on Friday following an illness and had lived with cancer for some time before this.

Mr Gordon was elected to Hertfordshire County Council in 1989 and has served as leader since 2007.

The Leader of Hertsmere Borough Council and County Councillor Morris Bright has released a statement following the news.

He said: “I worked with Robert Gordon for the past 10 years both as Leader of Hertsmere Borough Council and also after being elected to Hertfordshire County Council in 2009.

He was a man deeply committed to local government and a believer that the best decisions for our towns and communities are taken locally, by local people.

He worked cross party to ensure that the needs of Hertfordshire residents were put first.

I learnt a great deal from him and shall always be grateful for the time he spent taking me under his wing to help guide and advise. He will be greatly missed.”