A grieving widow told today of the moment she realised her husband had died in a horrific crash as they returned home from holiday.

Stanley Starkey, 83, of Lakeside Path, Canvey, was killed instantly when a car ploughed into the cab in which he and his wife were passengers.

They were on their way home from a holiday in Bavaria and had decided it would be their last holiday on the continent, his widow Joyce, 76, said today.

Recalling the crash on the A2 near Dover, she said: "I was sitting in the back with Stanley when all of a sudden, there was a tremendous crash. I don't know how it happened.

"When I opened my eyes, I looked at my husband, calling his name, but of course, he didn't answer. He was already dead."

Stanley suffered massive internal injuries. Joyce suffered gashes and severe bruising and was released after hospital treatment. The driver of the cab was also killed.

The couple had been married for more than 50 years.

Joyce went on: "It was the last holiday we were going to take. We had decided not to go abroad any more. My husband liked Germany very much and we have been all over the country."

She said her husband had been "full of life and interests. He had so many friends here, that the phone has not stopped ringing and I have had lots of cards. He was very, very, well-liked.

"He was my right arm. We did everything together. If I went out on my own, people came up to me to ask where he was. We were never apart. I just don't know what to do with myself.

"We had been married 56 years. What a way to go."

Police said they believed a 21-year-old woman in a Peugeot 106 lost control of her car, crashed into the central reservation and ended up in the path of the oncoming Ford Sierra taxi, carrying Mr and Mrs Starkey.

The Sierra was then hit by a Ford Escort van with four people inside.

An air ambulance arrived at the scene within 25 minutes to treat the taxi driver, John Pile, 37, from Dover.

The father-of-four, died later at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

The Peugeot driver was thrown clear of the crash but suffered serious pelvis and back injuries. Mr and Mrs Starkey have one son, who lives in Leigh, and two grandchildren.

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