THE mother of the man killed in a car accident near Hilmarton last week, has spoken of her son's enthusiasm for life and devotion to his children.

Nick Walmsley, 38, of Duncan Street, was killed on September 2 when his black Renault 19 hit the tree on the A3102 at Snowhill near Hilmarton at 8.15pm.

Mrs Anni Walmsley, who lives with her husband, Geoff, near Riberac, in France, said: "He lived a fast, speedy life and that's the way he died, and in my heart of hearts that's probably the way he would like to have gone, but not quite so young.

"He was very popular with his family, his friends and the blokes who worked for him. He was known for his corny jokes, which he would text to people all the time. He lived life to the full, he was always doing something and always willing to help people."

Mrs Walmsley said the tragedy did not really hit her until she wanted to tell the family some news.

"As I was driving home I was convinced there was someone I hadn't told but I couldn't think who, then I realised I realised I hadn't told Nick," she said.

From the age of 14 Mr Walmsley, who was born in Manchester, had a passion for motorbikes and loved watching motor racing. He frequently went to the Doddington race circuit and his mother said he would cancel everything to watch the Formula One on Sundays.

His parents reluctantly bought him a moped when he was 16, but his passion for bikes continued through his life.

He would often go to motorbike meets across the country and when died he had three bikes in his garage, a Master Kawasaki and two scamblers.

Mr Walmsley bought his son Dominic, 13, a scrambler and he would put the bike in his van and take him to scrambler meetings at weekends.

When they visited Mr Walmsley's parents in France, in July, Mr Walmsley and Dominic built a scrambler course together.

Mrs Walmsley said her son had a great sense of humour so when Dominic completed the circuit and he fell off the bike, he joined in the laughter.

She said: "He used to have hundreds of terrible, terrible corny jokes, which he enjoyed telling himself almost more than the person listening to them.

"His jokes became worse in the last few years of his life to the point when he would ring his uncle to tell him he had a new joke and his uncle would put the phone down on him.

"He would turn up to smart events in a beautiful shirt and dinner jacket with a bow tie that lit up."

Every Friday Mr Walmsley would pick up his son Dominic, 13, from Market Lavington, and his daughter Holly, 7, from Compton Bassett for the weekend, returning them to their mothers on Monday in time for school.

Mrs Walmsley said her son always tried to make the weekend exciting for his children and took them on day trips to Longleat Safari Park and Savernake Forest.

Mr Walmsley was brought up in Camberley, and attended St Tarcisius Middle School before completing his education at St John's School, Woking.

He went into banking for a London company but his mother said he left because he didn't like working in an office environment and was tired of shutting doors.

He spent a year roofing, which he loved because it was outdoors, practical and he was using his hands, before moving to Poole to become a wine salesman.

Mr Walmsley then began selling life insurance for Abbey National before moving back into roofing full-time with Dyno-roofing.

His mother said last year he set up his own roofing business, A4 roofing, which was proving very successful.

He moved to the south west of England 15 years ago and lived in Calne for seven years.

Mr Walmsley married in 1990 and a year later his son Dominic was born. The marriage ended but five years later he had a second child, Holly, from a different relationship.

He was engaged for 18 months but the relationship ended last year.

Mr Walmsley had been looking forward to a holiday in Italy with his current girlfriend in October.

Mr Walmsley was the second of six children. He is survived by Debbie, 39, Phil, 37, Sam, 35, Zoe 33,and Charwin 29.

The family posted news of his death on the Friends Reunited website.

They have since received messages from his school friends from all over the world, including several in Australia and Sweden.

The funeral has been postponed because the coroner has not yet released the body.