Tributes to devoted partner and cabbie

A TAXI driver who spent years caring for his sick wife after she developed multiple sclerosis has died in a road accident as she lay in a coma in a care home.

Sid Adams died when his taxi was in collision with a coach on the A143 in Great Barton, near Bury St Edmunds, on Friday.

Warm tributes were paid to Mr Adams, who found new happiness before his death with a new partner, Jayne Buckle, the woman who became "his rock".

Mr Adams' daughter Amanda Kemp said: "My dad cared for my step-mother for many years and visited her every week. Then he met Jayne who made him happier than he has been for a long time.

"The whole family was very happy for Dad and we were very supportive of them. She was like a rock to him. He was due to fly out to Kentucky, America yesterdayto meet some old school friends. He had so much to live for."

Speaking from their Bury home, MsBuckle said she had been left devastated by the tragic accident.

She said: "He was a lovely, fantastic bloke. He was well liked by everyone. He was a popular taxi driver, it was something he enjoyed – but it was his job that killed him.

"He liked meeting people and he would help everyone. He was also a very family person. I am devastated, there aren't the words to say how I am feeling."

Mr Kemp, of Abbot Road, was born and bred in Bury, and worked as a civil engineer before becoming a taxi driver with the town's A1 Cars five years ago.

His daughter said: "The taxi firm have been fantastic, he loved his work and he always enjoyed his job. "There was not a bad word to say about him, he was loved by so many people. It is a difficult time for all of us.

"Everybody loved him, he was a very popular figure and a very hard working man with a heart of gold – if anybody wanted anything, he was always there. He was one in a million."

Steve Bye, owner of A1 Cars, said: "The whole incident is very sad and Sid will be missed by everyone.

"When drivers work for us, it is like working as part of a family as well being a business. Sid was well respected by all the drivers and customers and we have been inundated with calls from people saying how sorry they were to hear of his death.

"His death has been felt by all the drivers and it will stay with them for some time. There is a very sombre mood at the moment and the drivers are finding it very hard to keep going at the moment but they are.

"We are now carrying out an internal investigation into the accident to see if it could have been avoided – but at this stage it doesn't look like it could have been. I am sure the cause will come out in due course."

Mr Kemp, a father-of-two, died at the scene despite efforts by ambulance and fire crews to free him from the wreckage of his car.

The coach was not carrying any passengers and the driver escaped with minor injuries.

The fatal accident brought the death toll on Suffolk's roads to 39 this year and led to campaigners calling for improvements along the narrow stretch of road running through Great Barton. Residents want a bypass to take heavy traffic away from their streets.

Anyone with any information about the accident should contact Bury St Edmunds traffic police on 01284 774153.