TRIBUTES have been paid to Raj Kothari who was found dead in his Bridport home by police.

A spokesman said they received a 'concern for welfare' call at 5.29pm on Saturday January 14.

Officers and ambulance crew attended and Mr Kothari, 64, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances and although there will be a post mortem there will be no inquest, the coroners office said.

Mr Kothari was well-known around town and was a regular at both The George and The Ropemakers where a half pint of lager were left on the bar with notices saying he would be much missed.

Friends and family paid tribute to the man who made his mark as both a filmmaker and a barrister.

He went to University College London and studied law but didn’t want to go into law and went into film instead.

He worked his way up working at the Moving Picture Company and Rushes before moving to the BBC where he worked as a film editor and a dialogue editor on programmes like Play for Today.

His own father worked on the Richard Attenborough film on Ghandi film and Mr Kothari was later to make his own documentary about Ghandi in England which was shown on Channel 4.

He later decided to return to law and started work as a barrister, which took to him all over the UK, including Lincolns Inn and Chichester.

He wrote a book about his father’s life and the making of the Ghandi film which is yet to be published and various plays and movie scripts.

His son Merlin said his father, who loved Bridport, was passionate about local and national issues which led to him writing regularly to numerous papers.

Merlin said: "He firmly believed in Ghandi s peaceful conflict and resolution, including non-violent solutions.

"When we moved to Bridport in 2005 we all fell in love with the place. He would always make time for people, even if it was inconvenient. He cared deeply about the community

"He loved the market and the community spirit of Bridport and its fresh and creative atmosphere and the good food."

Long-time friend cartoonist Sam Smith, who has known Mr Kothari since 1974, said: "He was an old school socialist all his life.

"He loved cricket and horse racing and organised many trips to race courses for 20 or 30 people at a time.

"He was always prepared to help people who would present him with a variety of enquiries.

"He very kindly opened his chambers and let me have an exhibition of my law cartoons there.

"He liked his music, and used to play bass guitar."

Geraldine Baker, landlady at The Ropemakers said he'd be sorely missed.

She said: "It is very, very sad. He was always ready to help people.

"He was incredibly good a cryptic crosswords. We had a crossword corner in the pub which he put the sign up for. He was teaching lots of people how to solve them.

"He was a very interesting man to talk to. He knew an awful lot about an awful lot of things.

"There will be a lot of people who go to his funeral."

Arrangement for his funeral will be made after the post mortem results are released.