The father of teenager Stephen Knightly, struck by a minibus and killed while walking along the A132 at Battlesbridge, said he had lost his son and his best friend.

The family told how the 18-year-old had been counting down the days to his first foreign holiday in Tenerife when he died last Tuesday.

Tragically, his parents James and Karen Knightly were on holiday in Florida, when the accident occurred.

They are back home now in Billericay, and trying to deal with the loss of the keen snooker player - he had been playing in South Woodham the night he died.

Published Monday, January 13, 2003

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