A MAN killed in a motorbike crash had lost his best friend days earlier to a bomb attack in Afghanistan, it has been revealed.

Rob Kirton, 32, a diamond driller, of Brookfield Road, Ashford, died last week after his bike was in collision with another motorcycle on the A28 near Canterbury.

A week earlier, he had spoken of his shock after childhood friend Sgt Dave Wilkinson, 33, from Charing, near Ashford, was killed in a bomb attack in Helmand province on July 1.

Mr Kirton had told the Kentish Express: "When I heard on the news I was gobsmacked. Good blokes always go early."

He added: "We were the best of mates… joined at the hip. We used to play a lot of snooker together, go camping in the woods, shoot air rifles - the sort of things that lads do together."

Mr Kirton was in collision with another motorcycle travelling in the same direction on Wednesday last week near the Stour Valley Industrial Estate between Chartham and Thanington. He died at the scene.

The other rider, also from the Ashford area, suffered minor injuries.

Sgt Wilkinson's funeral took place at Larkhill Army base, Salisbury Plain, this week.

He was killed by an explosion during a routine joint patrol with the Afghan National Army.

A married man, he was serving with the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards at the time of the incident. His mother, Margaret Wilkinson, lives in Ashford.

FULL STORY IN THE ASHFORD EDITION OF THE KENTISH EXPRESS (JULY 26)