WARM tributes have been paid to Basingstoke solicitor Charles Marchant-White.

The popular lawyer passed away on June 3, following a fight against cancer. Mr Marchant-White joined Basingstoke legal firm Clarke & Son, now called QualitySolicitors Clarke & Son, in December 2000 and became the firm’s senior partner in 2014. He retired from the partnership at the end of March this year due to ill health. QualitySolicitors Clarke & Son managing director Julie McKinney, based at the firm’s Manor House offices in Winchester Road, described Mr Marchant-White as a colourful and active character in the Basingstoke business scene for over 14 years and said he will be sorely missed by colleagues and clients.

Mrs McKinney said: “The whole firm is deeply saddened by Charles’s death. “We feel privileged to have worked with Charles who was a talented lawyer and a charismatic part of the firm for many years. “All our thoughts are with his wife Terry and two sons at this sad time.”

As well as being highly regarded as a commercial property solicitor, Marchant-White was chairman of Hampshire Chamber’s Basingstoke Area Committee. He was also a founding member and trustee of the Heartburn Cancer Awareness and Support Charity. Mrs McKinney said Mr Marchant-White was a great family man at heart and also noted for his love of outdoor pursuits which include golf, Dartmoor Letterboxing, and sailing.