TRIBUTES have been paid to a Territorial Army sergeant and father of six children killed in a road crash.

Darryl Key, 51, of Harold Road, Cliftonville, near Margate, died when his Suzuki motorbike was in collision with a car.

The tragedy happened on the dual carriageway between the St Nicholas at Wade roundabout and Birchington at about 1.40pm on Sunday.

Mr Key was riding home from The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment barracks in Canterbury, where he held the rank of Staff Sergeant.

A spokesman for the regiment’s Third Battalion said: “Staff Sergeant Key was a diligent and very well liked member of the team who will be greatly missed by all his colleagues in the Battalion. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.”

Staff Sergeant Key had joined the Territorial Army when he was 17, and serving an apprenticeship at Barratts, in Canterbury. He went into REME, The Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers, to follow his hobby of motor mechanics – something that stood him in good stead when he later joined as a full-time member.

He married wife Kathleen in 1979, and moved to the Sittingbourne area to carry on his career as a train driver. The couple later moved to Thanet where they became foster carers. In the past 16 years they cared for more than 130 children.

His widow, Kathleen, said: “Everyone who knew Darryl said of him that he was a quiet man, thoughtful, sincere, kind, respected and above all loved by so many, who will all miss him, always.”

He is survived by his sons Nicholas, Lawrence, Simon, Jordan, and daughters Kelly and Charlie.

* A 61-year-old Herne Bay man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and drink driving.