THE founding editor of the Clarets Mad website has died at the age of 45 less than a week after complaining of a chest infection.

Father-of-three Alan Boys was described as a ‘fun-loving and easy going’ man, who was very popular in the town.

Mr Boys was a well known Burnley fan, having been a regular at matches for over 30 years.

He recently contracted deep vein thrombosis in his legs, and was complaining of a chest infection last week.

He had made an appointment to see his doctor, but died before that on Friday night after suffering what his partner, Linday Benton, 40, believes was a panic attack and a seizure.

She paid tribute to the “love of her life” and said it was shocking that his condition deteriorated so rapidly.

She said: “He was such a popular guy, he was so fun-loving and easy going.

"We met five months ago but we were like soul mates.

“When we went on our first date I just knew we were going to be together.

"I can’t believe he has gone, it is just so unexplained and sudden.”

Mr Boys, of Derby Street, Colne, leaves behind three children, Rachel, 20, Scott, 19, and Ross, 12, as well as his ex-wife Caroline.

Miss Benton said: “He was devoted to Burnley FC and all his children are fanatics as well.

"He told me that seeing them going up at Wembley was the happiest day of his life.

“He was so looking forward to going to the Rovers game later this month, he was planning to go in fancy dress with his mates, he had been talking about it for ages.”

Mr Boys was a former commercial van and car salesman, but was made redundant just before Christmas. He also used to work at the Lancashire Telegraph in advertising sales. He stepped down from his role at Clarets Mad in 2001.

Miss Benton said the couple had enjoyed a “whirlwind romance”.

She said: “Although we weren’t together long we enjoyed some memorable times. Alan moved in shortly after we met and we had some great times.

“He was a real family man as well, he absolutely adored his children and saw them all the time, they are devastated he has gone, we are all organising his funeral together.

“It is frightening that this can happen so quickly, he was as fit as a butchers dog, it is unbelievable really.

“Alan was such a friendly and genuine guy, he was so popular around the town.

"Nobody has a negative thing to say about him, he had no enemies.”

A post-mortem is due to take place today to discover the cause of Mr Boys’ death.