TRIBUTES have been paid to the popular owner of a Rosyth snack van who has died this month.

Gary Robertson, who ran 'Gary's Snack Van', died suddenly on August 6 at just 61.

Described as "the life and soul of every party", his family said he would be missed greatly.

Liz, his wife, told the Press: "He was just full-on with everything that he did, it was all or nothing. He was just so happy with life, he was a real optimist. His cup was never half empty, it was always half full.

"Gary, if you knew him, he loved to talk. Everybody knew that Gary loved to talk. He could talk for Scotland so the snack van was his ideal type of job, he had somebody to talk to all the time. He just had a good laugh and banter with everybody.

"If Gary thought something, he would say it. There was no filter there! He managed to get his point across with good humour, he never really upset anybody but he was quite opinionated. He was funny with it, he just loved a good laugh and a blether."

He moved to Rosyth when he was 14, living there most of his life. He worked in the Navy, the Rosyth Dockyard and petrol stations as a manager before he and his wife bought one in Crossford. Then, in 2001, he started with his snack van.

Liz continued: "He built up a really good clientele, he had people making detours to come to his van because the food was so good!"

Liz and Gary met 34 years ago and were married for 30 years. She said: "We met at Lorenzo's nightclub, we met in the queue waiting for our coats at the end of the night. I was staying at my friend's house and he walked me up the road and that was it.

"He was a great guy. I had been married before and I had two children, they were only wee, they were four and two at the time but Gary took them on as if they were his own. He was a great dad to them, brought them up like they were his own kids.

"He was like the life and soul of every party, you knew when Gary was there. He was really fun. I think there was two sides to Gary, outside the house people saw one side but I saw the other.

"Out of the house, people would think he was loud and opinionated and a bit brash, the take-no-prisoners type but at home, he was the total opposite. He was gentle, he was kind, he was totally selfless. He would do anything for the family.

"He was my gentle giant."

Well known for his work in the snack van, playing rugby with the rugby club in Rosyth and for singing at the top of his lungs in the aisles at Asda, Gary will be missed by Liz, his son, Chris, his daughter, Deborah, and her two kids, Jade and Amber.

Liz added: "He absolutely loved music, he loved the karaoke and he was really good at it as well.

"Folk probably saw him singing and dancing in the aisles of Asda, he used to embarrass the heck out of me. He could always tune into music in the background and he would start singing and I would go, 'What are you singing?' and he would say, 'Can you not hear it?' and he would start singing at the top of his voice, dancing about.

"He was never grumpy, he was never bad-tempered. He was always happy and ready to cheer everybody else up."