'He was larger than life, everybody loved him': Man killed in Stourport collision named

The 21-year-old from Stourport on Severn was killed during a collision on Ribbesford Road (The B4194) on Thursday at around 5.50pm, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The blue VW he was driving in the direction of Bewdley collided with a grey Landrover Freelander travelling in the opposite direction. The driver of the other car and two other passengers sustained minor injuries.

The father of a 21 year old man killed in a collision in Stourport on Severn has paid a loving tribute to his 'larger than life' son.

Mitchel had recently completed his Level 3 NVQ in engineering whilst working in the engineering department at West Midlands Safari Park. He lived with his fiancée Jenna, after meeting her at work in 2013.

He was a son to Lee and Liane Bow and had two younger sisters, Sophie aged 20, and Ashley aged 15.

His father Lee said "There were three parts to Mitchel, his family and friends, his fiancé who he was besotted with and his commitment to the safari park.

He had always had an interest in motorbikes, cars and engineering and was wielding spanners from the moment he could pick things up. I called him my 'technology officer', he was very much from this generation and whether it was computers, phones, cars or whatever, and he would know how to fix it.

I was in the forces for 23 years so we travelled a lot as a family and Mitchel got to see a lot of the country. He was born at the British Military Hospital in Iserlohn, Germany whilst we lived at Dortmund. He also lived at Hohne and Munster in Germany. Within the UK we lived in North Yorkshire and Wiltshire and finally settled in Stourport-On-Severn.

The social media tributes have shown how much Mitchel has touched hearts and minds across the world, with messages of support from places as far flung as Australia and Canada.

Mitchel was larger than life. Everybody loved him, and if they didn't he would easily turn them around within five minutes. In every picture he has a big cheesy grin on his face which is how everybody will remember him.

Mitchel was reliable, honest, trustworthy and always helpful to everyone he met. He would even stop at the side of the road to help people out but he was humble with it and didn't expect anything from anyone in return. He was the type of person to just smile, shake your hand and say 'it'll be alright'.

Mitchel was completely dedicated to his job at the safari park, you couldn't drag him away and he would often go well beyond what was expected of him. The Safari Park have been awesome, welcoming us in and offering us use of the Tree Tops venue, a place where Mitchel would have liked to have married Jenna.

We'd also like to thank Josh's Prayers, who have also been a great support to the family. They are a local charity for families in our current position, they contacted my oldest daughter Sophie after she told them what had happened. They have been an excellent shoulder to cry on and have offered us various types of support."

Anyone who witnessed the collision or saw either vehicle beforehand is urged to contact police on 101 quoting incident number 468 of 15th January.

Mitchel's family have asked for their privacy to be respected at this difficult time. The details of the funeral are yet to be confirmed.