TRIBUTES have been paid to the former Northwich student ex-husband of TV star, Matt Lucas who killed himself last week.

Thirty-two-year-old Kevin McGee was found hanged in his Edinburgh flat on Tuesday, last week after posting a chilling message on Facebook reading, ‘death is better than life’.

The former St Joseph’s Primary School and St Nicholas High School pupil grew up in Coniston Avenue, Winsford with dad, Francis, before moving to London to pursue a career as a television writer and producer.

The curtains at the semi-detached home have been drawn since Kevin’s death.

Next-door neighbours Keith, 77, and Kath Burrows, 75, said Kevin was a ‘lovely lad’.

Keith said: “He was a nice, friendly lad but we didn’t see much of him after he went down south for a TV job when he was about 15 or 16.

“His dad’s a smashing bloke but we’ve not seen any of the family since it happened.”

Head teacher at St Nicholas High School, Kieran Kelly, paid tribute to a ‘young man with a lot of promise’.

He said: “At school, Kevin was a warm, open, young man, well-liked by all who met him. He was happy to be in or out of the limelight.

“He was a good friend to many and was generous with his time. He was a young man of many talents and a lot of promise and had great deal to give.”

Kevin met Matt Lucas in 2002 before his rise to fame with the hit show Little Britain.

They were one of the first celebrity couples to enter into a civil partnership in December 2006, after the law on same-sex marriage was changed, but 18 months later, they became the first celebrity pair to seek a same-sex divorce.

Leave your tributes online at winsfordguardian.co.uk.