Tributes have been paid to a much-loved former Accrington pub landlord who has died suddenly, aged 71.

Barry Allen ran the town’s Kings Arms before taking over at the Arden Inn in the mid-1990s with his future wife Marion, who he married in 2000.

He also worked as a caretaker at both Accrington & Rossendale College and Moorhead High, and latterly as a Blackburn Rovers FC steward.

Marion, 67, said Barry passed away unexpectedly at their home, on St Ledger Court, Accrington, on April 5.

He had been undergoing radiotherapy for lung cancer but Marion said he had been given the all-clear last December, and the cause of death is not yet known.

She said: “I just found him dead on the bathroom floor. The coroners office just said they cannot find the cause and they won’t know for about six to eight weeks.

“I’m still in shock, sometimes it doesn’t seem real. We’ve had plenty of cards and messages.

"It happened at two o’clock and by five o’clock I had about five cards and two bouquets of flowers.”

Known for his sense of humour and ‘recycled’ jokes, Barry was a keen pool, dominoes and darts player.

After he and Marion left the Arden Inn in 2004, he continued to organise the Hyndburn Independent Pool League.

Fellow darts player Marion said he would do all the pool fixtures for all the leagues and at one time there were 40-50 teams participating, with plenty of accompanying paperwork.

A Rovers fan, Barry began stewarding for the club following retirement and his duties later progressed to being the doctor’s escort, which involved taking the doctor to any casualties in the crowd via the quickest possible route.

Marion, who also works for Rovers on the betting desk, said: “He knew the inside of the stadium and would take them on shortcuts to the person.

“There are quite a few heart attacks.”

Barry was a regular with the Hash House Harriers, an international tradition of non-competitive social running clubs, with one based at the Arden.

Marion said: “They had beer stops and came back to the pub afterwards.

“It was popular with people with stressful jobs.

“They used to dress up and if there were any ‘misdemeanours’ they used to have to down a pint.

They would go all over and we would get invited to different ones, he’s been to Scotland and all over.”