A DEVOTED husband and father from Warboys has been killed after being knocked off his motorbike in an incident which also injured his friend. Charlie Beaumont, a taxi driver from Farriers Way, who was married with a 10-year-old son, was just five minutes

A DEVOTED husband and father from Warboys has been killed after being knocked off his motorbike in an incident which also injured his friend.

Charlie Beaumont, a taxi driver from Farriers Way, who was married with a 10-year-old son, was just five minutes from his home when he was thrown off his bike on Raveley Road in Wistow. One of his close friends, Nick Green, was also injured in the accident.

Mr Beaumont, 36, was on his way back from a motorbike ride on Sunday with Nick Green and was following him along the road.

It is believed that Mr Green, 36, was approaching a corner and collided with a 4x4. Mr Green was thrown clear but his bike then struck Mr Beaumont's bike knocking him off the vehicle.

The scene was attended by Magpas doctor Simon Lewis, paramedic Simon Standen and NHS Ambulance Trust paramedic Dan Cody. A spokesman for Magpas, the medical emergency service, said: "The first motorbike approached a corner and collided with a 4x4. The motorcyclist managed to escape but the bike flew backwards and hit a following motorbike. We have never seen an accident like this before."

Both motorcyclists were taken to hospital. Mr Beaumont suffered major head and chest injuries and died during emergency surgery at Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge. Mr Green, who lives just a few doors away from the Beaumont family, was discharged from Hinchingbrooke Hospital yesterday (Tuesday).

Speaking to The Hunts Post, Charlie's widow, Jayne, said: "We are all trying to cope with the sudden and tragic loss of a devoted husband and father. Nick has returned from hospital black and blue and is going through hell because he survived and Charlie didn't. He sat with my husband at the scene of the accident and stayed with him and for that I will be forever grateful."

Mrs Beaumont added: "Charlie was 100 per cent devoted to his son. He supported both me and Joshua through difficult times and was always there for us. He was our rock and the backbone of the family."

Charlie, was born in Aberdeen and had lived in Warboys for nine years. He met his wife on a blind date organised by one of his friends.

Mrs Beaumont said: "We went to the cinema to see one of those silly romantic films.

We had an instant connection. It was love at first sight and he was a gentleman from the start."

The couple were married three years later on June 8, 1996 at Pidley Church and their son was a honeymoon baby. Joshua, now 10, was christened on the couple's first wedding anniversary at the church they were married in, by the same vicar who had conducted the wedding ceremony.

Charlie worked as a taxi driver in Cambridge and had only become interested in bikes last year.

He was runner up in a Wayne Rooney look-a-like competition organised by a Cambridge based newspaper. Mrs Beaumont said: "He was often stopped at garages and told he looked like the England football player. He would get quite embarrassed as he was quite a shy person."

The Beaumont family shared some of the same friends as Melanie Burton, 33, the veterinary nurse who died on the A1123 in St Ives - also minutes away from her home - less than two weeks ago, on Friday, September 14. Mrs Beaumont said: "It is a double tragedy for the people who knew both Charlie and Melanie. Charlie was a laid back man who would always sparkle and was always happy. Even on the blackest of days he would find something to smile about."

Charlie's father, Donald, step-mum Noreen, sister Melinda and brother Keith all live in the Cambridgeshire area.

INFORMATION: Anyone with information relating to the accident, which took place on Sunday at 6.55pm is asked to contact the road policing unit on 0845 4564564.