A British man has died in Thailand after a firework reportedly exploded in his face during New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Local police said Gary McLaren, 50, was killed when a firework he was trying to light exploded during a visit to the resort town of Pattaya.

He died at the scene shortly after midnight, according to reports.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said it was supporting his family.

Lt Col Somboon Ua-samanmaitree, from the Thai tourist police, told the BBC: “Around midnight, Mr McLaren attempted to light up a large firework but it failed to go off at first. After that, it suddenly exploded and killed him at the scene.”

McLaren’s friends were seen crying at the scene, where a large firework was found and taken for evidence, the Bangkok Post reported.

Police told the BBC that McLaren from Northamptonshire had visited Thailand before and had arrived a few days before New Year’s Eve.

MotoGP paid tribute to McLaren, who worked for the International Road-Racing Teams Association (IRTA).

“Terrible news this morning. Our colleague and friend, Gary McLaren from IRTA passed away last night,” it said in a tweet on Wednesday. “Our thoughts are with his loved ones. He will be sorely missed.”

For 11 years, McLaren worked as a data acquisition engineer for the Suzuki MotoGP team, who also expressed their condolences to his family.

The team tweeted: “We are very shocked and sad to learn of the death of Gary McLaren. Gary worked as a Data Acquisition Engineer at Suzuki for 11 years, and remained a good friend to us all while he continued working in the paddock for IRTA. Our thoughts with his loved ones, we’ll really miss him!”