Tributes have been paid to the latest young man to die in a county hit by apparent suicides.

The 23-year-old, named locally as Rhys Davies, was found dead at an address in the Bettws area of Bridgend on Saturday.

Twenty-two other young people in or from Bridgend are believed to have killed themselves since the beginning of last year.

Mr Davies' death is the fourth in the Bettws area since April.

It is understood that he worked behind the bar at the Bettws Social Club in the village and was due to go on holiday to Benidorm on Thursday.

A woman who answered the door at Mr Davies' home declined to comment.

But Selcuk Erdogan, 24, who works at the Antalya kebab house in Bettws, said he found out Mr Davies had died on Saturday, having seen him at the shop the previous night.

Mr Erdogan said: "He was a very good guy, very friendly, everyone liked him.

"I feel sorry for him. It's so sad."

Bettws councillor Christopher Michaelides said: "I'm quite shocked and I can't understand why it's happening."

He said of the latest death: "I don't know a lot about it, but there's no connection at all with the others. He's not related and wasn't friends with them.

"I really don't want all of this raised again in case it's encouraging others to do the same."

Tributes to Mr Davies have also been posted on the social networking website Facebook.

© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.