ABERYSTWYTH has been left in a state of shock over the death of a hugely popular father-of-three who died after being struck by a car following a funeral in Spain.

Self-employed electrician and Aberystwyth rugby “legend”, Eifion Gwynne, 41, whose family hail from the Tregaron area, was involved in the accident after attending the funeral of family friend Emrys Thomas, who was living in Spain after running Autocraft auto repair shop in Aberystwyth for many years.

The funeral was on Friday and the accident happened in the southern Spanish town of Estepona, near Malaga, in the early hours of Saturday morning as Eifion was trying to cross the N340 dual carriageway.

It is understood that Eifion, whose birthday was on Monday, had decided to return to the apartment he was staying in by taxi and, after he left the vehicle, he was knocked down by another cab.

He was rushed, critically injured, to hospital, but sadly died several hours after arrival.

Eifion, of St David’s Road, leaves behind a wife, Nia, three children and nine brothers and sisters Megan, Dewi, Eirlys, Bethan, Ieuan, Rhiain, Mair, Alun and Neris. He is the son of Anne and the late Dai Gwynne.

Eifion had flown out to attend the funeral with friends. People attending the Spanish funeral included Mr Thomas’ sons, Barrie and Byron, and JJ Gaunt of Autocraft.

Tributes poured in on social media and many users changed their Facebook profile to a picture of a Number 8 rugby shirt, the position Eifion used to play.

Ifan Evans, from Aberystwyth, who played with Eifion at Llandovery RFC and went on to play rugby sevens for Wales, said on Facebook: “Honoured to have played with him and privileged to have called him my friend... thank you for all the memories Gwynni.”

Leslie Gornall wrote: “This gentle Giant was one in a million R.I.P.”

An emotional statement from Aberystwyth RFC said it had been “one of the saddest weekends” in the club’s history, and they paid tribute to a “magnificent” player on the field, and a “gentle, humble and loveable” man off it.

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