FIREFIGHTERS at Hadleigh fire station have sent heartfelt thanks to members of the public who backed their fundraising campaign in memory of a colleague who died in a road smash in Thundersley.

Friends of biker Stephen Capp spoke of their appreciation during a fundraiser in which they scrubbed cars for queues of motorists who wanted to show their support the wife and five children he left behind.

Mr Capp, 39, was killed in a crash outside the Bread and Cheese Pub in Thundersley. He had been travelling home from a shift with White Watch to his home in Yateley, Hampshire, when his bike was involved in a collision with a Ford Mondeo.

Firefighter Ian MacGuire said: "A lot of people have been giving really good donations and we'd like to thank them for that. Some people have been coming in without their cars and just donating."

He added: "RIP Brother from all on Blue Watch"

Firefighter Matt Pattison, of Green Watch said Mr Capp had been with them for two years and would often eat meals with other shifts as he had so far to travel.

He said: "After he did shifts, instead of going home he'd have a meal with us. He was here so in a way he was part of the watch. Everyone knew him, he was not only part of White Watch, he was part of the other watches as well because he spent time with them."

Mr Pattison said it had been particularly upsetting as Green Watch were called to the scene of the crash, on March 26, having waved off Mr Capp a few minutes earlier.

"It was a total shock to the system, not just for the on-coming watch but for the station as a whole," he said. "It's been like a black cloud over the top of us."

Mr Capp, who was also a retained firefighter with the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, was renowned for his dry sense of humour, which his colleagues said they would miss.

"He liked rubbing people up the wrong way to get some response out of them," said Mr Pattison.

"If you didn't know him you'd think, blimey he's got a chip on his shoulder' but he was just winding people up deliberately. You could always have a giggle with him.

"With some of the incidents we go to you need that." The carwash had originally been planned for Saturday to raise money for St Luke's Hospice, the Fire Services' Benevolent Fund and Race for Life. But after the tragic accident they decided to postpone it and raise money for Mr Capp's family, collecting a total of £,1037.

Firefighter Ian MacGuire said: "A lot of people have been giving really good donations and we'd like to thank them for that. Some people have been coming in without their cars and just donating."

Cash or cheques to help Mr Capp's family may be paid to the following Essex Fire Authority bank account, using bank counter paying-in slips, sort code :30-00-02 Account number: 00418809.