THREE families were in mourning today after a weekend of tragedy saw three men killed on roads in Essex.A man in his 20s from Colchester died yesterday after he lost control of his motorcycle and hit a series of concrete posts.

By Annie Davidson

THREE families were in mourning today after a weekend of tragedy saw three men killed on roads in Essex.

A man in his 20s from Colchester died yesterday after he lost control of his motorcycle and hit a series of concrete posts.

The accident happened on Perimeter Road next to Earls Colne airfield at 3pm. The motorcyclist, who was riding a red Ducati 748, was declared dead at the scene after suffering head and leg injuries. Police closed the road for three hours while they investigated the accident.

He was the second motorcyclist to die over the weekend after another man was killed when his bike collided with a car in Stebbing, near Braintree.

The 46-year-old man from east London died shortly after arriving at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.

The accident happened in Warehouse Road at 7.45pm on Saturday when the 1100cc BMW motorbike collided with a silver Citroen Xsara.

The driver of the car, a 25-year-old man from Braintree, was shocked but uninjured in the collision.

Police are keen to hear from witnesses to the accident and particularly want to hear from the drivers of a dark Ford Fiesta, a silver Mazda MX5 and a Skoda Octavia taxi who may have seen the collision.

The road was closed for four hours while emergency services dealt with the incident.

And a man in his 60s was killed in south Essex when his car was in collision with a stationary petrol tanker. The accident happened Corringham yesterday afternoon .

None of the three men had been named by police.

Meanwhile, a man who was fighting for his life after an accident on the A12 was taken off the critical list last night .

The 52-year-old from London was driving a Peugeot 106 which left the road at the bottom of the south-bound slip road at Marks Tey.

He suffered serious head and face injuries in the accident which happened at 11.35pm on Saturday and was in a serious but stable condition in Colchester General Hospital last night.

Anyone who witnessed the accident should call Stanway Traffic Police on 01206 762512.

Anyone with information about the Earls Colne or Stebbing accidents should contact Bocking Traffic Police on 01376 330722.