Tributes have been paid to a Dovercourt man who was killed on the A120 earlier this week.

Ken Salmon died when the car he was travelling in collided with an HGV on the road at Little Bentley on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Salmon, 90, was an active member of a number of community groups including the Harwich Society which he helped to start, Probus, and a patron of the Harwich Festival.

Joan Rees, treasurer of the Harwich Guild of which Mr Salmon was a founder, said: “He was a stalwart of the community.

“He lived life to the full and often used to say there were not enough days or weeks to fit everything in. He was very well-travelled and during his life went almost all over the world.

“He was very fit and on the ball for his age, and gave talks on a number of subjects through the University of the Third Age.

“Everybody is shocked, nobody can really believe it.

“He will be missed tremendously. He has touched so many people in Harwich.

“He contributed to every organisation he was in, in some way or another. He would always help anybody.

“Ken was a very likeable, loveable man.”

A customs officer at Tilbury and Harwich docks for much of his life, Mr Salmon also served as a sergeant in the RAF where he looked after instruments during flights.

He served in Northern Ireland and India, including a period of service during the Second World War.

Born in Wales, Mr Salmon was a rugby fan and regularly attended All Saints Church.

Mr Salmon was also a member of several Masonic Lodges in the north Essex area.

Friend and fellow freemason Roy Hook said: “He was affable, garrulous and friendly, very popular.

“Ken will be missed by everyone.

“He was very active and cooked my wife and I a meal just the other week knowing we had not been in the best of health.”

His wife died around 12 years ago, and Mr Salmon is survived by his son John, daughter Elaine and granddaughter Claire.

It is understood a woman in her 70s, who was travelling in the car with Mr Salmon at the time of the crash, is recovering well from her injuries.