Father of two dies after double fatal accident (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Father of two dies after double fatal accident

TWO men, one from Amesbury and one from Hampshire, died last Thursday night after an accident on the A36 east of Warminster.

Stuart Scurr (36), from the Boscombe Down area of Amesbury, and Adam Salters, an 18-year-old from Waterlooville, in Hampshire, lost their lives following the crash, which happened between the Heytesbury and Crockerton roundabouts just before 11pm.

Mr Scurr, a married man with two teenage sons, worked for QinetiQ at Boscombe Down.

This week, Keith Douglas, technical leader combat aircraft air vehicle systems, paid tribute to Mr Scurr, who, he said, had previously had a distinguished career in the Royal Air Force.

"Stuart joined QinetiQ in April 2001, working at RAF Boscombe Down, which is the ministry of defence's military aircraft flight test centre," he said.

"He was a senior trials officer, assessing the fitness for the purpose of fast jet aircraft.

"Most recently, he transferred to the Typhoon project, which entailed his spending most of his time representing QinetiQ in the flight test department at BAE Systems Warton, in Lancashire.

"A keen sportsman, Stuart was very respected among all his friends and colleagues at Boscombe Down and he will be greatly missed."

Police said Mr Salters, a single man, was driving his red Ford Orion west towards Crockerton when it collided with Mr Scurr's Toyota Carina heading in the opposite direction.

Mr Salters, a tyre fitter, died at the scene and Mr Scurr was taken to Salisbury District Hospital with serious injuries.

He died there the following day.

One of his sons was with him when the accident happened and suffered minor injuries.

Two other vehicles travelling eastwards towards Heytesbury collided with the Toyota after the initial accident.

Their occupants suffered minor injuries.

Firefighters from Warminster and Trowbridge went to the scene and freed two people, and a total of five people were taken to hospital.

Police are asking anyone who witnessed the accident or who saw the vehicles prior to the crash to contact PC Geoffrey Rice, on 01373 827689.

An inquest into the two men's deaths was opened and adjourned by Wiltshire coroner David Masters on Monday. Mr Scurr's funeral will take place in Lancashire on Monday.

He is the second man from QinetiQ, Boscombe Down to die in a road accident this year.

Last month, aircraft fleet manager Robert Hooper died in a two-car accident on the A303 at Zeals.