Dozens of floral tributes have been left after a couple died in a helicopter crash in Australia.
Ron and Diane Hughes, 65 and 57, from Wirral died after two helicopters crashed on the Gold Coast at around 2pm local time on Monday, January 2. Queensland Police said the crash happened at around 2pm when one helicopter was landing and another was taking off near Sea World Drive in Main Beach.
The pilot, named locally as 40-year-old Ash Jenkinson, was reported to have died at the scene alongside three passengers, Mr and Mrs Hughes and 36-year-old Vanessa Tadros from New South Wales. Ms Tadros' 10-year-old son Nicholas was taken to hospital in a critical condition as were Winnie De Silva, aged 33, and her nine-year-old son Leon, it is reported.
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An FCDO spokesperson earlier said: "We are supporting the family of two British nationals who died in Australia and are in contact with the local authorities."
Alison, 55, who has been a customer at Mr Hughes' business, Concept Interiors, for around 11 years, and lives in Neston described him as "happy go lucky" and having "all his life left".
She told The ECHO : "He was a friend to everyone in Neston, a successful business owner and just a happy go lucky guy. He had a shop in the village and I think it was his daughter that worked with him.
"He was a very respected person, somebody you could always rely on and he would help you with anything you needed. There was this one time I had these blinds fitted in my daughter's room and they just looked awful and didn't fit right.
"I called Ron and he was 'bring them up' and he fixed them and said 'don't worry about it'. He was just a genuinely kind and nice man who loved his golf.
"I was so shocked when I heard something that happened so far away was to do with Ron. He was so young and had all of his life left.
"He's a huge loss to our tight knit community"
When Alison spoke to Mr Hughes in November 2022, she said he told her he was looking forward to Christmas. She continued and said she would be leaving some flowers outside Concept Interiors, along with dozens of others who have already paid their respects.
There's a sign in a plastic poly wallet over the shutters reading "due to unforeseen circumstances the shop is closed until further notice".
She said: "I was speaking to him in November and he said he was looking forward to Christmas, when I walked past the shop earlier and saw the shutters down I thought nothing of it. It wasn't until I dropped off my daughter that another parent told me about Ron.
"I saw the flowers as I came past tonight to get a chippy. I'm going to come back tomorrow (Wednesday) and drop off some flowers."
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