TRIBUTES were paid yesterday to a councillor whose wedding - after a 35-year engagement - touched hearts around the world.

Rod Burtt, who died on Sunday at the age of 64, made international headlines with the moving story of his marriage to Judith Kent.

The couple were engaged in 1969, after a party at the Black Bull Inn, in Moulton, North Yorkshire.

But it was nearly 35 years before they walked down the aisle, after an engagement that captured the imagination of the world.

Amid countless questions about whether they had set a record, Mr Burtt said that the couple had simply "never got round to it".

But there was a great sadness behind the occasion. Mr Burtt, a Conservative member of Darlington Borough Council, had been diagnosed with lung cancer and given only months to live.

It was an illness that was borne with great courage, and Mr Burtt continued to devote his time to issues in Hurworth, the village he represented on the council.

Glowing tributes from Mr Burtt's family and friends, as well as fellow elected members of all political parties, poured in yesterday.

His brother, Alastair, said: "He had an enormous capacity for friendship - in the past few days, the number of people who have rung up and said he was their best friend has been incredible.

"He was the sort of person who, although he was part of a political grouping, really had a passion for people.

"The politics wasn't what he was interested in - it was the service."

Mr Burtt's funeral is to take place next Monday afternoon, at St Augustine's Church.