TRIBUTES have been paid to a businessman killed when his sports car crashed on the way home from the Bolton Wanderers Chairman's Ball.

Christopher Warburton's TVR Tuscan Speed Six car smashed into a garden wall in the early hours of Saturday, just yards from his home in Dunscar Fold. His wife Julie was seriously injured.

Today colleagues at Farnworth-based plastic cladding suppliers Proplas Ltd said Mr Warburton would be "dearly missed".

Mr Warburton founded the firm, based at Grecian Mills, 15 years ago. It has five employees.

Manager Jason Kay said: "He was a good boss and a friend to everybody and he will be dearly missed by his work colleagues and customers alike."

Mr Warburton, aged 39, and his wife had been attending the ball at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday evening.

They were just yards from their home in Dunscar Fold when their purple TVR hit a stone garden wall.

Firefighters had to cut Mr Warburton from the wreckage and he was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital with head and internal injuries but the father-of-two was dead on arrival.

Mr Warburton's wife, aged 38, was released after treatment and is being cared for at home by friends and family.

Mr Warburton was a keen supporter of Bolton Wanderers and a corporate sponsor of the club. A spokesman for the Wanderers said: "The club would like to extend its deepest sympathies to the family."

The Warburton family moved to Dunscar several months ago and this summer Mr Warburton and his daughter Alicia became involved in the campaign to stop a developer moving Dunscar War Memorial.

Alicia, aged six, even wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair to try to get his support.

Police say their investigation into the cause of the accident, including a detailed examination of the car wreckage, is expected to take several weeks.

They are appealing for witnesses to the crash, or anyone who saw the sports car being driven through Bromley Cross, to contact them on 0161 856 7201.