TRIBUTES have been paid to a former Scout leader who died suddenly while working at the job he loved.

Ian Stuart died after suffering a heart attack while working alongside younger brother Neil at the family landscaping business Hard Graft on September 12.

Neil described his brother’s death as “like losing a limb” after the pair worked side by side throughout their lives.

The family ran J.G. Stuart and Sons in Longniddry for nearly 70 years with Ian taking the helm for the final 25 years of its existence.

When the shop closed in 1992, Ian, 62, joined Neil at Hard Graft as they continued the tradition of working in a family business.

The landscaping and gardening business has flourished under the two brothers who are joined by Neil’s sons in running it.

Tragedy struck two weeks ago when the company was working at a job in Gullane.

Neil said: “It was very sudden: one minute Ian was working beside me, the next he was knocked off his feet by a heart attack.

“Even when he was in the ambulance he was talking and we all thought we’d see him again but then we received a call to say he had had a second massive heart attack and had not recovered.

“It has been a real shock, we worked together all our lives, for me it is like losing a limb.”

Ian was well known in the village where he remained in the family’s home on Main Street and was often seen outside washing the company van.

He was involved with the Scouts from boyhood, becoming a Scout leader and even when he stepped down he remained an active volunteer, collecting jumble every year for their annual sale.

He never married with cars listed as his first love by his family.

At his funeral service at Mortonhall Crematorium in Edinburgh on Monday, 240 people attended with a further 180 sending messages of sympathy.

And thousands more have been in touch from around the world through social media.

Nearly £2,000 was raised at the funeral collection with more donations still coming in.

The money will be given to Longniddry Scout Group.

Neil said: “We’ve had people from New Zealand, Canada and across the world getting in touch, many knew Ian from their Scouting days.

“He had no idea how many lives he touched. He was just himself.”

Longniddry Scout Group said a post it put on Facebook announcing Ian’s death attracted 11,000 views and was testament to how well thought of he was.

They said: “The village and the scout group has lost one of its most popular and loved sons.”