TRIBUTES have been paid to a former Burnham man who died after an alleged attack.

Matthew Portwood, 42, was found injured in the Iceland supermarket car park on Canvey Island following an incident.

Detectives were called shortly before 1.45am on Saturday.

It is believed Mr Portwood had been assaulted near to the Haystack pub a short time earlier.

Sadly, he died at the scene, despite the best efforts of the emergency services.

Police have launched a murder probe.

A pal, who asked not to be named, paid tribute to Mr Portwood, describing him as a “good friend and a great guy”.

He said Mr Portwood grew up in Burnham and had gone to St Peter’s High School - now Ormiston Rivers Academy.

“He was a great guy and we all miss him,” he said.

“Matt, was a funny, caring, hard working father of two.

“He lived to help others and served in the army before sadly being invalided out.

“He was a fantastic artist and had an ear for music. He also had one of the wickedest senses of humour you will find.

“I had known Matt since I was seven or eight when we lived opposite each other in Burnham.

“We grew up hanging out in the same group of friends as teenagers and then he moved to Southend where I was living.

“Although we had times when we didn’t see each other for years, we would instantly catch back up like no time had gone by.

“I moved to the US in 2009 and the last time I saw him was when a group of friends got together in Southend in October 2021.

“We talked online though quite a lot and we chatted over Christmas.”

He said Mr Portwood still returned to Burnham to catch up with friends and the town had a special place in his heart.

He said the reaction to the tragedy had been one of “shock and an outpouring of goodwill”.

“It was nice to see how many people who I don’t know are saying the same wonderful things about Matt that I knew about him,” he said.

“The general theme is we lost one of the good ones and his loss leaves a space which can’t be filled.”

An area of Canvey Island, including Furtherwick Road and Long Road, was cordoned off at the weekend while police investigated at the scene.

The detective leading the investigation says he needs those at The Haystack pub that night to come forward.

Detective Inspector Kev Hughes said: “The Haystack pub was busy on Friday night into Saturday morning and I am confident there are lots of people who have information that can help our investigation who we’ve not yet been able to identify and speak to.

“There are people who were in the pub before the assault and people who had gone outside at the time of the incident. 

“If you were there and you have not yet spoken to us, I need you contact my team.

“The information you have could be really important to our investigation.

“Our priority and our focus is to bring those responsible for this fatal assault to justice. 

“That’s what we’re interested in and that’s what we want information on."

Anyone with information can contact police on 101.