A FORMER colleague of a man who died following a road accident in Suffolk has paid tribute to a “fantastic man”.

A FORMER colleague of a man who died following a road accident in Suffolk has paid tribute to a “fantastic man”.

Russell Covey, 34, of The Green in Ashbocking, died on Thursday night after his car left the B1077 road near the entrance to the Fynn Valley Golf Club.

Former colleague Robert Pender, 39, said that up until a few weeks ago Mr Covey had worked with him at Walker Joice Recruitment in Southend as a senior recruitment consultant.

Mr Pender, who lives in Southend, said: “We are absolutely devastated.

“We closed the office when we found out yesterday morning. It was a very tearful day.

“Russell worked with us for a long time as a recruitment consultant and was an absolutely fantastic guy.

“He will be very sorely missed by all of us.

“He was a colleague and a very good friend.

“He had three young children, a lovely wife and some very good friends.

“He was generally a real top fellow, always happy and upbeat and he always saw the good side in people.”

Mr Pender said Russell left the firm a matter of weeks ago to further his career in London.

He said he feared the accident may have happened as he returned home from the station in his car after a day at work.

Concerns have been raised about the safety of the stretch of road where the accident happened.

An inquest into Mr Covey's death is expected to be opened next week.

HIGHWAYS officials will be working with the police to see if any changes are needed to the B1077 between Westerfield and Witnesham where a motorist died this week.

Residents spoke of the fears because motorists are able to travel at up to 60mph along the short stretch of road between Westerfield and Witnesham.

It includes a deceptively-sharp bend and they had warned about the dangers faced on the road.

However, a county council spokeswoman said there was little immediate prospect of lower limit being introduced. “Local residents have voiced concerns about the B1077 between Witnesham and Westerfield, however as this stretch of road is outside of the village areas it does not meet the criteria for a 30mph speed limit.”

The council will be working with the police as the investigation into the road gets underway.

The spokeswoman added: “The county council's road safety engineers will work with the police investigation team to carry out a full investigation into this tragic accident to see if any action needs to take any action in respect of the highway.”

This week's accident was less than three miles away from last December's fatal crash, on the same road, which saw Henry Wingate and Kirsten Duffus lose their lives when their car left the road near Ashbocking.

On that occasion the council came under fire because the road had not been gritted - but ice was not a problem this week.