Warm tributes have been paid for a young father-of-two who died suddenly in his sleep.

The grieving family of 29-year-old Paul Smith are waiting for the results of further tests to confirm he died from sudden death syndrome, an 'adult' version of cot death syndrome.

He passed away in the early hours of Tuesday at the home in Great Horton he shared with partner Rachel Holt, 29, and their children Laura, five, and two-year-old Katie.

"At about 4.30 in the morning his breathing went funny," she recalled.

"I nudged him and tickled his feet. I thought he was snoring, then I thought he was kidding me."

But he wasn't - and despite the best efforts of ambulance staff and doctors at the Bradford Royal Infirmary, he never regained consciousness.

An inquest into his death was opened and adjourned on Friday.

Relatives are planning a special 'green' funeral for the nature-loving young man.

He is to be buried in an environmentally-friendly coffin at Thornton Cemetery, where a tree will be planted in his memory. Friends will attend St John's Church in Great Horton for the service where mourners will sing All Things Bright and Beautiful.

His parents, Anne and Bob Smith, of Westbourne Terrace, Queensbury, will be joined by Paul's elder brothers Bob, 34, and 31-year-old Darran, who will act as pall bearers, and many friends, including workmates from Steve Hirst shopfitters which will close for the day as a mark of respect to the friend they knew as 'Gobba'.

He had joined his brothers in setting up a window-cleaning business, Staybright Window Cleaners, but his real love was the craft of French polishing, which he did as a sideline in the evenings.

He was a party-loving extrovert, and a gentle side to his nature showed in a love of animals and the outdoors. He bred prizewinning canaries and numbered a dog, fish and even frogs among his pets.

"We used to send our Paul on window cleaning jobs to the houses with the big dogs," recalled brother Bob.

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