TRIBUTES have been paid to a man who spent ten years raising money for a new sports centre, only to die minutes after becoming its first customer.

Peter Crispin suffered a massive heart attack while working out in the gym at the £1.7m centre at Nidderdale Pool, in Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire.

Staff tried to revive the 62-year-old and he was rushed to Harrogate District Hospital, but he died a short time later. His funeral took place in Harrogate on Monday.

Mr Crispin was a member of the pool's appeal committee and worked for a decade to bring sports facilities to the area.

He was so pleased his dream had become reality that he was the first customer through the doors when it opened last week.

His son-in-law, Stephen Cock, said: "He was the first customer in there and he was going to use the swimming pool and gym.

"He was always an active sort of man, and he did not have any history of heart problems, so it was a massive shock for his family."

The centre has been built at Nidderdale High School and boasts a swimming pool and fitness centre.

"It was his dream," said Mr Cock.

"He had been working on this for ten and a half years right from the start. He was really chuffed when it all started to come together.

"Nidderdale is a very small area with a few thousand people, so for those people to pull together and raise a quarter-of-a-million pounds was remarkable."

Mr Crispin, who was married with two children, owned the Royal Oak Inn in Dacre Banks, near Harrogate, with family members. He was a former head brewer with Courage and lived in Pateley Bridge.

Harrogate Borough Council's director of leisure and amenities, Kevin Douglas, who knew Mr Crispin through his work on the appeal committee, praised the quick thinking of staff who rushed to help him.

He said: "Peter was a keen supporter of the pool.

"We hope it doesn't put people off using the facilities because I don't think that's what Peter would have wanted."