Tributes have poured in for a village landlord who was electrocuted at the weekend - the second tragedy to hit the family in two years.

Marshall Ormesher, 50, died at his pub, The Hare and Hounds, Bolton Road, Abbey Village, as he carried out home improvements on Sunday.

The father-of-three was the uncle of Christopher Ormesher, 14, who was killed when his motorbike hit a chain on the car park of Bolton Wanderers Football Club, Horwich, in August, 2003. Marshall's brother Stuart Ormesher, Christopher's father, described Marshall as a "fun-loving character with lots of friends".

Stuart, of The Cedars, Chorley, said: "He was such a bubbly, outgoing character, he used to be a singer in the clubs."

Stuart said Marshall and his wife Carol, who lived at the pub, were also a comedy duo called Marenco and had performed in the North West.

"They did the club circuit for many years and had a good following. They had a lot of friends, they were a good comedy act."

The couple took over the pub last October, after buying the lease from Enterprise Inns.

Marshall also ran two engineering companies in partnership with a business colleague, one was Tech Control in Stanidish, the other, in Birmingham, was called Peerless Gas.

Stuart described how he first learned of the incident. "Marshall's son, Terry, rang me and said to get up to the pub, as there was a problem. I just went up but there was not much we could do."

He added: "Marshall had done a lot of houses. He knew what he was doing.

"He had just built a kitchen and made a very nice job. He was working on the last ceiling light and was up in the loft, feeding the wire though and somewhere along the line he has touched something."

Marshall leaves a wife Carol, aged 49, and three grown-up children, Jennifer, Terry and Karen, and a grandson Ben, Jennifer's son.

"I think Carol will carry on in the pub. That would be what Marshall would have wanted," said Stuart.

He added: "She's trying her best. They are lost without each other."

Marshall was discovered by a friend at 10pm on Sunday.

Health and safety officers from Chorley Borough Council closed the pub on Monday while they began an investigation.

A spokesman said: "We visited the premises on Monday morning but will be bringing in a specialist health and safety inspector to make a more detailed assessment of the situation.

"It would be inappropriate to comment further as to what happened at this stage."

Stuart added: "I'm still grieving Christopher. The lad meant everything to us and we worshipped the ground he walked on.

"Even Marshall was there when I did the race for Christopher. He was always at the races. He wanted to sponsor Christopher."

Christopher was a motorbike fanatic and had been taken to The Reebok by Stuart and his wife, the boy's mother, Brenda, to the car park to practise.

The youngster careered into a chain fixed between two posts next to the club's Reebok Stadium. He died at the Royal Bolton Infirmary.

Bolton Wanderers have pleaded guilty to an offence under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974. They will appear at Bolton Crown Court on September 2 for sentencing.

As a tribute to his son, Stuart competed in, and won, a race Christopher was due to take part in.