Great Bentley: Tributes to ‘larger than life’ motorcyclist Paul Collingridge

The family of a man who sadly died after a collision in Great Bentley have paid tribute to their “amazing and larger than life” fiancé, son, brother and uncle.

Motorcyclist Paul Collingridge, from Clacton, was involved in a collision with a car on Colchester Road at 6.45am on Tuesday 6 December. Despite the best efforts of medics, the 28-year-old sadly died at the scene.

Today, his family have paid tribute to him.

On behalf of his family, his fiancée Rio Fisher said:

“Our beautiful, amazing, larger than life, honest talking, gym, Marvel, Pokémon and airsoft obsessed, loyal best friend, rock and very much loved fiancé, son, brother and uncle Paul. We can’t even put into words the amount of love we have for you, and we can’t begin to imagine how we’re going to live this life without you.
“Paul was the purest soul and you couldn’t wish to meet a better man. He had time for everybody, he lit up a room with his infectious laugh, massive cheesy grin and big kid personality and he just loved whole heartedly. He adored his family, especially his nieces and nephews and it’s fair to say he was the fun uncle they all ran to who was always willing to get stuck into anything!
“What you see is what you get with Paul and that’s one of the many things that made him so loveable. There was never a dull moment when he was around and I love that he has touched so many lives in such a positive way in his 28 years of life.
“I love you beyond words Paul, you are the other half of my heart, love of my life and an angel on this Earth. Thank you for being my happiness the past seven and a half years, I wouldn’t change a single second of it. Fly high my darling, I’ll be looking out for your sparkle among the stars.”

No arrests have been made as part of our investigation and we are continuing to appeal for anyone who witnessed the collision or who have dashcam footage of it or the moments leading up to it to come forward and speak to us.

If you have any information, CCTV, dash cam or other footage in relation to this incident, then please get in contact with us.

You can let us know by submitting a report online or by using our Live Chat service.

Live Chat is an online service available on our website Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) between 10am-9pm, where you can send and receive real-time direct messages with an online digital 101 operator.

To use the service, select the ‘Live Chat’ icon at the bottom right of your screen when you're on our website. It can be accessed from a desktop computer, laptop, tablet or mobile phone.

Alternatively you can call us on 101.

To find out more about the different reporting services visit our 'Help Us Help You' webpage. 

If you would like to make an anonymous report you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, by visiting their website or by calling 0800 555 111.

Please quote incident 158 of 6 December when providing any information to make sure it gets to the right person as quickly as possible.