A DEVASTATED woman whose fiance plunged to his death from a third-floor hotel window will bury him on Valentine's Day at the Baxenden church where they were due to marry.

Grief-stricken Dawn Huggard this week led tributes to her "gentle giant" partner Victor Docherty.

The 35-year-old former boxer, who lived with her in Roundhill View, Rising Bridge, died after falling from a window at the Hotel Angela in Hammersmith, London, at around 5.30am on Sunday.

Victor, who had been working in the capital as a plasterer, was rushed to Charing Cross Hospital by paramedics but pronounced dead on arrival.

He was due to marry Dawn, 28, at St John's Church, Baxenden, on 26 August.

She said he would be best remembered for his love of life and refusal to see others unhappy, adding: "We were making plans for our life together. We were in the process of opening a joint bank account and setting up a home.

"All I can do now is to try to gain some of the strength that he had.

"He wanted to go to the Maldives on honeymoon - it was his dream. I don't like swimming but he said he was going to support me through it so that we could swim together in the sea."

Victor, who also had a house in Burnley Road East, Lumb, Rossendale, had become "daddy Vic" to Dawn's children, Hayden, 10, and three-year-old Libby.

He also had a 13-year-old son, Jordan, from a previous relationship.

Hayden said: "He was the best dad and I just want to work hard for him now and do well."

Friends remember Victor as a party-loving joker who would light up a room with his presence and who hated to see friends upset.

Originally from Blackley, Manchester, he moved to Rossendale aged 17.

A keen Manchester City fan, he was well-known in East Lancashire for being a semi-professional boxer in his 20s. Nicknamed Boom Boom, at one time he was ranked third best amateur in England in his weight division.

He went on to work as a doorman at bars and clubs across the region before retiring three years ago to concentrate on his plastering business.

The vicar of Baxenden, the Rev Steve Lees, who will conduct the funeral service on Wednesday, said: "It's a real tragic accident. I have spoken to Dawn, and we are just trying at St John's to do all we can to support her.

"Dawn wants to have the service on Valentine's Day as a memory and tribute to Victor."

An inquest into Victor's death has been opened and adjourned by a London coroner.