The former mayor of Ludlow who was the driving force behind the town’s internationally-renowned food and drink festival has died.

Graeme Kidd suffered a suspected heart attack yesterday at his home in the town. He was 52 and is survived by his wife, Sally Newman-Kidd, and two sons, Warwick and Alisdair.

Today police in Ludlow confirmed that Mr Kidd’s family had raised the alert yesterday morning. However, he died despite efforts to save him.

This afternoon people from all walks of life paid tribute to Mr Kidd’s energy, determination and passion for Ludlow.

Ludlow MP Philip Dunne said he had been stunned by the news while many of Mr Kidd’s friends said they were devastated.

Mr Kidd moved to Ludlow from London, where he had worked in publishing.

He successfully launched a number of small businesses, including ones associated with the internet and food.

He involved himself in the town by serving as a councillor.

Much of his spare time was devoted to the promotion of Ludlow and projects associated with the Ludlow Marches Festival of Food and Drink, Cittaslow, Slow Food and Ludlow Town Council.

One of Mr Kidd’s closest friends, Peter Cook, described him as “irreplaceable”.

He said: “Firstly, Graeme was one of the kindest people I knew. He is irreplaceable. The amount of work that he did for the town and the effort he put into various initiatives was huge. I don’t think people realise just how much he did. He was passionate about Ludlow and very committed to the town.

“Graeme was an incredible man who will be sadly missed.”

Mr Kidd was well known in Ludlow for his entrepreneurial instincts and regularly launched new events. Earlier this year, he was the brains behind Ludlow’s new spring event, an offshoot of the town’s food and drink festival that attracted thousands of people to the town.

He was also passionate about Ludlow’s links with towns overseas and had made a number of visits to Europe to foster trade links.

He stood down as Ludlow mayor in May 2007, after serving four consecutive terms.