TRIBUTES have been paid to a 27-year-old former Minster stonemason who died while travelling in India.

Daniel Barrett Frost passed away in his hotel room in Calcutta on November 9.

His family said his death was not considered to be suspicious and said he died “suddenly, but peacefully” with police finding no sign of a struggle.

A keen traveller, Daniel had just arrived in Calcutta following a diving trip to the Andaman Islands and had been due to travel on to work in Australia and New Zealand at the end of the month.

Speaking from their home in Malton, his parents Paul and Chris and sister Helen paid tribute to a loyal, popular and outgoing man whom they described as a “big fellow with a big heart”.

Helen, 26, said: “He did more in the last few years of his life than some people do in their whole lifetime.

“He was always there for his friends. He was known as a legend in Malton and I was always ‘Frosty’s little sister’. He was very popular and had a very cheeky sense of humour. He always stuck up for the underdog.

“No matter how far away he was, he always stayed in touch.

“He was loyal to his close friends and loyal to his family.”

Chris, his mum, said: “A lot of people would say it in this position, but Daniel really was very special.”

Daniel, who was known to his friends as Frosty, attended Malton School before going on to York College and undergoing a four-year apprenticeship at York Minster Stoneyard where he became a skilled stonemason.

He left to travel around the world – visiting South America and Asia, living with a tribe in the Amazon and bungee jumping in one of the world’s deepest canyons in New Zealand, his family said.

Upon his return to North Yorkshire earlier this year, Daniel had hoped to return to work at the Minster.

However, there were no opportunities at the time and he decided to continue with his travels, eventually hoping to find masonry work in Australia and then New Zealand.

Geoff Butler, the foreman stone carver at the Minster, said about Daniel: “Straight away we were struck by how keen he was and what a great personality he had. He was outgoing with a great sense of humour.

“He will be remembered with great affection.

“I will always remember the laughs we had.”

Daniel appeared in The Press in 2005 when he was presented with apprentice’s tools in memory of stonemason Stephen Magson, who died in the 2004 tsunami in Thailand.

A funeral is due to take place following Daniel’s repatriation. A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth office said: “We are aware of the death of a British national on the November 9 in Kolkata (Calcutta).

“We are providing consular assistance to his family at this difficult time.”