Tributes have been paid to a much-loved father and grandad who was killed in a crash.

Victor Samways, 74, was killed in a car crash on the A35 at Eype in January.

Vic was born in Litton Cheney but spent most of his life in Puncknowle with his wife Linda, who passed away in 2013. The couple were married 51 years, meeting when they were aged 16 and 17, and had four children; Judy, 56, Andrew, 52, Stephen, 50, and Sarah, 46. They also had 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, with another on the way.

Sarah says Vic was a ‘caring’ and ‘generous’ man ‘who would do anything for anyone.’

“My dad was very quiet and unassuming,” said Sarah. “But he was very clever and had a great sense of humour. When he did speak, it would be the best sentence you’d hear all day – he was very witty.

“He doted on his family and would help anyone who needed it. He spent his whole life helping people. If he passed someone who’d broken down on the road, he’d be the one to stop and help.

“In the winter of ’78, when the village was snowed in, he drove a tractor to Bridport to collect groceries for the whole village. It took him all day, but he did it. That was the kind of man my dad was.”

Vic was driving along the A35 on the night of January 23 when the crash took place near the turning for Eype.

Sarah has spoken of the moment she found out the devastating news her father had died.

“Dad would come to our house every day, sometimes many times, especially since we lost mum. He’d wait at the bus stop and wave my daughter, Elsie, off to school – she has Down’s syndrome and he was incredibly protective over her. She idolised him.

“That Wednesday, we said ‘goodbye’ like any other day. You don’t think it will be the last time. The police knocked at our house at about 11pm and told me what had happened. It was a dreadful shock – I didn’t believe it. You never think something like that will happen to you.”

Vic’s funeral saw a procession in Puncknowle led by a motorbike and sidecar. Sarah said: “Dad loved motorbikes. When he met mum, he would pick her up on his motorbike and they would go out together. We thought it would be lovely if he could go back to her that way.

“We all miss him terribly. He was one-of-a-kind and an old-fashioned gentleman.

“We would have loved to have had him with us longer, but it’s comforting to know he’s with mum now.”