A former Bristol City Council worker has died after apparently jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

The body of Sundeep Sumal, who worked with children and young people in the city, was found in the water last Thursday morning after police were alerted to a man going over the safety rail the previous evening.

It is believed the 31-year-old, who was living in Chipping Sodbury before his death, had gone to the American city with the intention of committing suicide, which he had previously discussed with friends.

Neither the city council nor Mr Sumal's relatives wanted to talk about his death yesterday.

But friends and former colleagues who worked with Mr Sumal in Wales before he worked for the city council paid tribute to the man they knew as Sunny.

Cwmtillery councillor Dave Rocke, who knew Mr Sumal since his family moved to the area from Leicester in the mid-Ninties, said he was "astounded" by his death.

Mr Rocke said: "He was a very well-liked lad, happy-go-lucky and it is fair to say he was one of the boys."

Mr Rocke said Mr Sumal had flown out to America on September 12.

It is understood he had been a former pupil at Abertillery Comprehensive before studying law at Swansea University.

He graduated in 2000 with a 2:2 before working at Ashfield Young Offenders Institution in Pucklechurch.

Mr Rocke said he still came back about once a month to see friends. He said: "Sunny is an apt nickname because it was always pretty bright when he was around."

Richard Catlin, 43, of East Side Row, Cwmtillery, had known Mr Sumal for about 10 years and met him through a local football side.

He said: "He was very well liked. He had a knack of making people laugh – if there was a room full, he'd make everybody laugh."

Mr Rocke said Mr Sumal, who was not married and did not have any children, was keen on helping people less fortunate than himself.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Chris Rardin told the Evening Post that two officers had been sent to the Golden Gate Bridge shortly after 7.30pm local time on Wednesday, September 16, after a report that someone had gone into the water, although no one could be seen by the time they arrived. A bag was found abandoned on the bridge containing identification belonging to Mr Sumal.

A body in the water near the bridge the following morning was found to be that of Mr Sumal.

Officer Rardin said: "The investigation concluded the incident was a suicide by Mr Sumal."