Grandson's touching tribute to man who died after being hit by lorry on high street

Tributes have been paid to Peter Giovanni Pelari who suffered serious injuries in a collision in Brownhills High Street, near the junction with Church Road.

The 84-year-old from Burntwood was airlifted to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital after the accident at around 11.30am on Friday but died soon after.

It is believed the grandfather-of-three had parked in another location to normal due to it being busy, so it meant he had to cross the road. The cards for his wife Doreen, who is in a care home, were found near to the scene.

Grandson Kris Askey, who took this portrait of his grandfather, paid a touching tribute to the former crane driver who was born and bred in Walsall.

"This is the first experience of grieving I have experienced in our small family," he said.

"Peter was a very popular, loving and simple man who valued the gift of family and friends. I know that is easy to say for absolutely anybody, but family and the people he knew on a daily basis, were what he was all about.

"My mother says he didn't usually need to cross the road on his visits to Brownhills town centre, as he usually parks on a certain car park. On this particular day though, the car park was full and he unfortunately parked over the other side of the road.

"Ever since my grandmother got put into a home years ago, we got the feeling that his heart has been breaking a little bit each day.

"We were told that when the vehicle hit him, the police and authorities found a Clinton Cards bag with two cards in it, one 'Merry Christmas To My Wife' and 'To My Wife, Happy Birthday' as my grandmother's birthday is on December 29. Heartbreaking."

The road remained closed for several hours while emergency services attended the scene. The lorry driver was spoken to and is assisting officers with their inquiries.

Anyone with information should contact collision investigators on 101.