Mr Beynon had suffered from PTSD after seeing a number of comrades killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and was himself badly injured in a bomb blast in Helmand in 2010.

His niece, Georgia, said: “My uncle was a truly an amazing man. Absolutely everyone loved him and I know he is going to be missed by so many.

"No one will ever understand how much he has been through, but he is in a safe, happy place now.”

Mr Beynon struggled with coming out of the Army, his friends said, and had turned to smoking large amounts of cannabis to try to cope with his PTSD and injuries.

Cllr Robert Davies, 61, said: "It is very sad. He was a nice guy, always had time to say hello, very pleasant. He was always with his dog.

"I think he found it hard coming out of the army. So many of our soldiers who serve their country are forgotten about.”

Speaking to a local paper in 2007 after returning from a tour in Iraq, he said he had found it at times a “very, very scary place to be”.

He said: "Unfortunately there were casualties and losses of lives which will affect the battalion and all who knew our friends and colleagues that passed away and it will affect us for a long time yet.”