Tributes have been paid to a scuba diving entrepreneur who lost his battle with cancer.

Mike Calder, who ran a popular dive store in Chiswick, passed away last Saturday, just over a month after being told by doctors he was suffering from bowel cancer.

The 61-year-old dive fanatic had been given the all-clear at the start of the year after being diagnosed with colonic cancer and had been looking forward to an upcoming dive as a treat to himself when he was given the news the cancer had returned.

His former wife Ann Calder said: “He was given the all-clear in January, then he got a few symptoms. He went in on August 7 for a scan. He was only meant to be in one night but he never came out. He hung on for much longer than expected – the doctor said he must have had the heart of an ox."

Mr Calder’s love for diving began in 1969 after he took it up on a whim while holidaying in Mallorca.

After returning from his holiday he helped to set up a diving club in Kensington before deciding to make a career out of selling diving equipment.

The first Mike’s Waterfront Warehouse (MWW) opened its doors in East Twickenham, in 1992, to great success, with the business turning over £1m in its first year.

He opened a further MWW in Power Road, Chiswick, in 1998, where Mrs Calder revealed he had always longed to have a shop after working for a friend’s diving business in Chiswick High Road.

At the peak of the business Mr Calder was running 12 stores, which were frequented by both diving experts and those new to the sport, including princes William and Harry.

Mrs Calder said: “Mike organised the kit when Prince William did his gap year. He wrote Mike a very nice thank-you letter. But it didn’t matter if you went in the store and you were a builder or a royal prince.”

Mr Calder and his former wife, travelled the world seeking out the top diving spots, with highlights including observing a 60ft whale shark in the Galapagos Islands and searching wrecks of sunken World War Two Japanese war boats in Truk Lagoon in Japan.

Lorraine Beretta, who worked with Mr Calder for more than 20 years, said: “It’s very difficult. He was not only a boss but a friend.”

Mr Calder, who lived for the last year of his life in Harvard Road, leaves his son Jamie and grandson Seth.

His funeral is on Tuesday, at Mortlake Crematorium.