A well known publican and supporter of Isle of Wight sport has died aged 70.

David Stephen Rudge was born in Leeds on November 22, 1949, and educated at Castleton and Armley Park schools before leaving to train as an electrician.

At the age of 17 he joined the Royal Navy and saw the world before buying himself out to enrol in catering college.

He moved to Jersey before returning to London to manage a wine bar in Wigmore Street, where he met his first wife, Nicola.

They married and moved back to Jersey where Nicola came from, Mr Rudge running the Beach Hotel in Gorey for his father-in-law. They had a daughter, Sallianne.

He met his second wife, Sally, while in Jersey and they moved back to the mainland.

Mr Rudge went back to his first profession of electrician and worked for the General Electric Company before Sally and him relocated to Bristol, becoming assistant managers for a multi-complex facility.

The couple then ran the Castle Hotel in Neath, South Wales.

They moved to the Isle of Wight in 1983 and married before the birth of their son, Gavin.

After a time running The Bugle Hotel in Newport, Terry Sheath sold them The Wheatsheaf in 1986, the same year as the birth of their second child, Lucy.

For the next 20 years the couple made a huge success of The Wheatsheaf, working hard but playing hard when they had the opportunity, with Mr Rudge taking any opportunity to regale customers and staff with his version of Delilah.

IW Festival weekends saw The Wheatsheaf and St Thomas's Square as the place to be, and one year about 30 people were staying at the pub and didn’t even make it to the festival because they were having so much fun.

The couple enjoyed more than 40 cruises all over the world.

After retiring from the Wheatsheaf in 2006, Mr Rudge worked at Blackwater Mill Residential Home, initially as holiday relief for the chef, but this turned into part time, then full time hours.

Mr Rudge was well known in the Island sporting community, as president of Cowes Sports FC, vice-president of Newport Cricket Club and for supporting Gavin in his golf. He was also president of Newport Conservative Club and vice-president of the IW Honda Owners' Club.

The couple moved from their Carisbrooke Road home in Newport to East Cowes in 2017 but just three months later, Mr Rudge was diagnosed with the cancer that was eventually to take his life on June 22.

A celebration of his life was held on July 6.

He is survived by Sally, children Sallianne, Gavin and Lucy, and five grandchildren.