A grieving wife has paid tribute to her husband who was killed in a motorcycle crash on the A12.

Tim Anslow, 35, who worked as a lorry driver in Witham, had decided to go to work early on Monday so he could be back in time to see his three young children before they went to bed.

But he died on his way to work, at a Witham-based agency, at the Kelvedon bypass when his S-reg Yamaha bike, which he bought last year, hit the central reservation and sped into the opposite carriageway.

His wife Jill Anslow, 27, yesterday told how she broke the news to their children Jemma, four, Jon-Jo, eight, and Kimberley, nine.

She said: "Jon-Jo found it hard. He cried a lot and won't go out to play. Jemma just keeps saying 'is daddy coming back?' and I say 'no he's dead now. He's got to go where the angels are'."

Mrs Anslow, of Monkwick Avenue, Monkwick, Colchester, described Tim as a loving, outgoing family man with lots of friends, many of them bikers.

She said: "He was a very loving, caring person. He always went out of his way to do anything for anybody.

"He loved the children and spent a lot of time with them. I am going to miss him being here and so are they. He was so good to me."

She also praised an unknown soldier who was believed to be first at the scene of the crash and tried to resuscitate Tim.

Tim and Jill married at Colchester Register Office in July 1997, but had known each other for 13 years.

He had ridden motorbikes since he was a teenager. Mrs Anslow said: "He was a good rider. When the police came round and told me he was dead it was a complete shock. I didn't believe it was him, he was such a careful rider. I still can't believe it has happened."

Police are still investigating if any other vehicles were involved. Anyone with information should contact Stanway traffic police on 01206 762512.

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