The family of a man who died in a car crash while on the way back from his favourite music festival has paid tribute to his kind and caring nature.

Mark Smith was travelling home from Barefoot Festival with close friend, Alex Green, when their car came off the London-bound carriageway of the M40 in Oxfordshire.

The crash, which happened on July 27, left both men dead.

Mr Smith, who was born at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Pembury, was passionate about music and wildlife. He spent his spare time volunteering at music festivals and exploring woodland areas.

The 33-year-old, who was the youngest of three children, grew up in East Peckham and attended the Mascalls School in nearby Paddock Wood.

After leaving school he worked part-time jobs at The Hop Farm and Brookside Nursery in Tonbridge, before acquiring his job at the Co-operative in East Peckham's Pound Road.

Mr Smith trained to be a sound engineer at Nottingham Trent University and had a studio in his parents’ garden, where he would spend hours carrying out his hobby of making music for himself and his friends.

A statement released from his family today said: “Mark never married, believing in the ethos that a prospective wife would have to be as amazing as his mum before he would marry them.

“Sadly he never found anyone that quite came up to scratch. Mark will be remembered for his passion for wildlife and nature."

Family members reflected on a time the passionate musician found an injured pigeon which he took home and hand reared for three years, before passing on to a wildlife sanctuary.

“He would stop a stranger in the street if they were about to unknowingly step on a snail or other insect. Mark would bend down, pick it up and move it out of harms way to a safer place" - Mark Smith's family

They added: “He would stop a stranger in the street if they were about to unknowingly step on a snail or other insect. Mark would bend down, pick it up and move it out of harms way to a safer place."

During the 2013 Christmas floods Mr Smith helped supply food and drink to families whose homes had been damaged by water.

His family are planning to attend next year’s Barefoot festival in his honour. While there they will take part in a firewalk, thought to be spiritually cleansing.

A collection box has been set up in the Co-op store in Pound Road to help raise enough money to buy a small piece of woodland where people who knew Mr Smith will be able to go to remember him.

Donations can also be made online by clicking here. So far, more than £1,000 has been raised.

His funeral will take place on Friday, August 28 at 2pm at Holy Trinity Church, Bush Road, East Peckham.

A celebration of Mr Smith's life at the Bush, Blackbird and Thrush pub, also in Bush Road will follow.

An inquest into the deaths was opened and adjourned at Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court on August 4. The full hearing will take place on January 14, 2016.

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