TRIBUTES have been paid to a great grandfather who died following a fire at his home in Dunbar.

Robert Wallace, 89, passed away on Monday afternoon – less than 24 hours after the fire, which is thought to have started in the kitchen of the house on Cedar Street where he had lived for more than 50 years.

Robert, known as Bob, had been at home with his wife Agnes, also 89, who remains in hospital, and her brother Robert Cameron, known as Bobby, who lives on nearby Summerfield Road, when the fire broke out at 7.05pm.

All three were taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh but Bob, who had worked as a butcher in the town, passed away.

The couple have two sons, David and Ian, with four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Alexander Coull paid tribute to Bob on Winterfield Golf Club’s social media page.

He said: “He was also a great family man who lived in Cedar Street for as long as I can remember.

“Nowadays his extended family live in both Dunbar and Berwick.

“Recently times have been difficult, caring for his wife, and his untimely passing will be a great shock both to her and all his family.

“The captain and committee wish to offer their deepest condolences to all Bob’s family at this extremely sad time.”

Bob, who donated the Auld Yins Trophy which is still played for at the club each summer, enjoyed success on the greens.

In 2004 he won the Summerfield Cup and the following year he teamed up with friends Clark Henderson and the late Jimmy Hay to win the 2005 Tri-Am.

Tributes were also paid by the congregations of St Anne’s and Dunbar Methodist Churches, where Bob and Agnes attended.

A special service was held on Tuesday morning at St Anne’s for prayers and people to be together.

Mike Shaw, who attends the church, told the Courier how Bob had played in a band in venues in and around Dunbar.

He added: “He bought a set of drums for the Methodist Church.

“We had drums on loan at the church but the people that loaned them had taken them back.

“Bob went on eBay to try to get some and he went to North Berwick and agreed to buy them.

“When the person selling them discovered they were for the church they gave them to him free.

“On the bass drum, there was a motif saying ‘tiger’ and that was his nickname.

“He could not believe he got the drums for nothing and they had his nickname on them.”

Stephen Bunyan, chairman of the town’s community council, also paid tribute and described Bob and Agnes as “very quiet, unassuming people”.

He said: “I am devastated to hear the story.”

Speaking on Monday, Bobby’s wife Annette, said that her husband, 79, was still in hospital, at St John’s Hospital in Livingston.

Firefighters from the town were joined by colleagues from Haddington and East Linton and used a high-pressure hose reel and breathing apparatus to tackle the blaze on Sunday evening.

The crews stepped down shortly before 11pm.

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “Police in East Lothian were called to a house in Cedar Street, Dunbar, following a report of a fire being received around 7.20pm on Sunday.

“Two men, aged 89 and 79, and an 89-year-old woman were taken to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary with serious injuries.

“The 89-year-old man sadly passed away on the afternoon of Monday, February 26, and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.

“A joint investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service; however, at this time, it is not being treated as suspicious.”