THE son of a scout leader who died while on holiday near Lancaster has paid tribute to ‘an amazing man’.

Daniel Whitehead, 66, known as ‘Danny’ to his friends, died suddenly on Wednesday morning while staying in a caravan in Carnforth, police said.

The grandad-of-seven suffered a heart attack in his sleep shortly before 2.45am at a campsite in Crag Bank Road, Carnforth.

He had been a Hyndburn scout leader for more than 35 years.

The father-of-two, from Oswaldtwistle, was discovered by his wife of 43 years Janet, who alerted paramedics.

Despite, their best efforts Mr Whitehead died at 3.50am.

Police were called to the scene but officers said they were not treating his death as suspicious.

Mr Whitehead was a scout leader at 109th Loyola Scout Group based at The Straites, in Oswaldtwistle.

His son Shane Whitehead, 42, said: “He was an amazing man who was always cheerful.

“He was born with spina bifida but he never let this get him down.

“He out did everything to prove the doctors wrong.

“I can’t remember him every being miserable. He loved to make people laugh.”

Tributes to Mr Whitehead, who spent his working career as a binman, have been flooding social networking site Facebook.

Phil Allan posted: “RIP Danny. Thanks for everything. One of lifes true gents.”

Friend Sonia Kathleen Spittle posted: “RIP Danny, you were one in a million. Xx”

And former scout Louise Alemanno posted: “RIP Danny. 22-years-ago I joined Loyola as one of first Girl Scouts.

“I’ve got some amazing memories. Really sorry to hear the news xx.”