THE family of a father-of-three found dead in his Melksham flat have spoken this week of his battle with depression and the close bond he shared with his children.

Keen cricketer Owen Lewis, 41, was found in his flat in Bath Road, above Libra hair salon, at about 9.45am last Friday after his family were unable to reach him by phone and asked staff at Kingstons Estate Agents, which manages the flat to check on him.

Mr Lewis was married to his ex-wife Anne, who also lives in Melksham, for more than 20 years and they had three children, Chloe, 16, Rhys, 13, and Megan, five. .

She said: “I will remember and cherish the good times we shared as there were a lot of those.

“We had three beautiful children who I know he loved very much. They loved him so much and will miss him terribly, they will never forget him. Nor will I.

“He loved his sports and his kids and was a big family man. He was so looking forward to spending holidays and weekends with them.”

Mr Lewis’ current partner Karen Cox, 44, who lives in Melksham, said she met Mr Lewis while working behind the bar in the town’s Liberal Club in Bank Street around two years ago.

She said: “On and off I am okay, but it is hard talking about what has happened. He meant the world to me.

“Owen was very jovial and we loved going out to meet friends at the pub together. I really miss him and it’s just such a big shock. ” His father, Roy Lewis, said his son had worked as a heavy goods driver for many years after leaving the Army, but over the past six months had been unable to find work as a result of the recession and had been very down.

Mr Lewis, 69, of Lincoln, said: “Owen had a difficult time over the past couple of years, so if there is anything positive to come out of something like this then it is that his tangled life of stress and depression won’t affect him anymore.

“Naturally as a parent I feel deep anguish about what has happened and I feel very sad for his children who are now looking at life without their father around.”

He said the family were waiting for the results of a post mortem examination to determine the cause of Mr Lewis’ death.

Police had told his father his son had been found lying peacefully on a sofa and there were no signs of distress. The television and lights had been left on in the flat.

Mr Lewis’ father said the family were hoping to have him cremated on Thursday, but were waiting for the post mortem examination to be carried out and an inquest to be opened.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said the cause of Mr Lewis’ death had not yet been ascertained and they were awaiting the results of toxicological tests.