A churchman who has died in a car fire was due to become president of his church's Ipswich and Colchester district.

The Rev John Pugh, 54, minister of Stowmarket United Reformed Church in Suffolk, was pronounced dead at the scene of the blaze outside his home.

His teenage son was treated for burns after attempts to rescue the minister from the burning Honda.

Before his death, Mr Pugh had been expected to be voted president-elect of the church's Ipswich and Colchester district.

The Rev Mark Ambrose, minister of the United Reformed Church in Plume Avenue, Colchester, said he thought Mr Pugh would have been well suited to the post.

He said: "He was always smiling, always on top of everything. He was organised and a really good bloke."

He added: "We are all devasted because he was a man who touched many lives."

Published Friday, June 6, 2003

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