TRIBUTES have been paid to a popular father who died in tragic circumstances at the weekend.

Mark Lucas died after he was hit by a stolen car in the early hours of Saturday.

The 21-year-old was knocked from his bicycle at about 2.30am as he rode home from visiting his fiancée Linsey Verdin and his one-month-old baby Lily Mai, of Austin Close, Winsford.

Floral tributes adorn the scene of the crash. A gaping hole in a fence of a house on the corner of Dover Street and Wingfield Place, which was wrecked in the incident, reveals the extent of the damage to the house it hit. Windows are boarded up, while a swing lies crushed in the garden.

Mr Lucas' uncle Alan Casson said: 'It is totally devastating. He was just a brilliant lad who doesn't deserve this.

'He had lots of friends and he was really close to his family. He was very bubbly and lively. He would often call me up and invite me to the pub. The family are devastated, and I keep expecting him to turn up.

'Everyone knew him and he was the sort of lad who would never leave anyone struggling with a job or in the garden, he would always offer to help out.'

Mr Casson said Mark was enjoying his recent fatherhood.

'He was over the moon with the baby,' he said. 'It was his first child. We will all miss him. I just hope he will rest in peace.'

Mark was a pupil at Handley Hill, Willow Wood and Oaklands schools.

His sister Joanne Lucas, 22, of Cleveland Way, recalled: 'Mark loved winding people up and he would walk away laughing.

'He was really funny and had people in stitches with his impressions. He had lots of friends and would always stand by them.

'He loved his bike, that was his world, he rode everywhere on it. He was a great brother, a great nephew, a great cousin, a great son, a great friend and a great fiancé.'

Detective Inspector Andy South-cott, who is leading the investigation, said: 'The thoughts of myself and my team are with the family.

'We have received great public support in our investigation and would like to thank the people of Winsford for their help.