A 71-YEAR-OLD man who was killed in a road crash near Kidderminster involving a van and a tanker has been named as Robert Coulson, from Quarry Bank.

Mr Coulson, known as Bob to his family, died after the white Citroen Nemo van he was driving on the A449 collided with a grey DAF tanker travelling in the opposite direction.

The great-grandfather, of Coppice Lane, had been heading towards Kidderminster when the horror smash happened near the Mare and Colt pub at about 11.45am on Tuesday (February 25).

Mr Coulson, who worked as a part-time delivery driver at J S Optical Ltd on the Hoo Farm industrial estate - near where the crash happened, had to be freed by the fire service as the van had become wedged under the front section of the tanker.

He was flown to the region’s trauma unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham but died shortly afterwards.

The tanker driver, from Gosport, Hampshire, was not injured in the smash which left the busy A449 closed for more than five hours.

Mr Coulson had been married to wife Sheila for 34 years and today (Friday) would have been their wedding anniversary.

Born in Kinver, he attended Old Swinford Hospital School in Stourbridge and he was a keen footballer in his youth but turned to golf when he was older.

He moved to the Clee Hills in Shropshire for a while and also spent some time in South Africa but he lived for most of his life in the Black Country – and he worked at the Eaton factory in Thorns Road, Quarry Bank, before retiring.

As well as wife Sheila, he leaves a step-daughter Lindy Parkes, her five children who regarded him as their grandfather, and one great grandchild.

Mrs Parkes said: “Bob was lovely, everyone liked him. He was a fun man, someone you could have a real laugh with.”

Mr Coulson’s funeral will take place at Stourbridge Crematorium on Thursday March 13 at 12.20pm.

Witnesses to the crash who have not already spoken to police are asked to contact PC Lee Baker in the operational policing unit at Rubery Police Station on the non-emergency number 101, quoting the incident reference 221-S-250214.