THE scooter enthusiast killed at an award-winning family holiday park during a "mod" scooter rally as been named by a national newspaper as David Coxon from Torquay.
The Mirror says Mr Coxon, nicknamed "Chewie", has been described by devastated friends as a "gentle giant."
David 'Chewie' Coxon
He was killed in the early hours of Saturday morning at the seaside resort of Sandford Holiday Park in Dorset. Another Torquay man, aged 41, and believed to be known to the victim, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and was remanded in custody to assist police with their inquiries.
Police were called to the holiday park in Holton Heath near Wareham at around 2.20am yesterday, but Mr Coxon was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sandford Holiday Park resort, pictured above, in Dorset was hosting a scooter rally this weekend for Dorset scooter club Modrapheniacs, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Almost 700 people said they would be attending the event.
The anniversary celebrations, and the club's 16th rally, began at around 2am on Friday morning and were expected to end in the early hours of tomorrow.
The death in the early hours of yesterday was understood to have taken place shortly after the late night revelry got underway.
Friends of Dave Coxon - a member of Devon-based Cyder Commando Scooter Club - spoke of their sadness on Facebook today.
Pal Darren Latimer wrote: "Very sad day today, lost a true cyder commandos sc legend today. A big friendly giant love you mate every day miss you mate RIP Dave Chewie Coxon, ride with the gods KTF XX."
Another friend, Steve Allen, wrote, "RIP big man", and friend Chris Butler posted:"God bless, a real character RIP."
Members of Modrapeniacs on a ride-out
Modrapheniacs - a mod scooter club formed in the 1970's which meets at The Oakdale public house in Poole every month - declined to comment when contacted about the tragedy.An event on the Facebook page of Modrapheniacs touches on the agenda for the weekend "3 Nighter" - where a Dad's Army themed fancy dress event was scheduled to take place last night.
The Facebook event for the rally garnered a lot of interest, with nearly 700 people stating they would be attending. Event hosts urged scooter fans to find accommodation elsewhere as the Parkdean resort had already sold out.
The holiday park swelled with visitors and it was understood that scooter enthusiasts from a number of different clubs in the South West attended the event.
A file has been prepared for the coroner and a post-mortem examination was expected to take place in due course to establish the exact cause of death.
A Dorset Police spokesman said the circumstances surrounding the man's death were suspicious and a murder investigation, led by Dorset Police's Major Crime Investigation Team, had been launched.