'Wonderful son' dies in crash

The father of a motorcyclist who was killed in a crash a day after passing his test has described his son as the "most wonderful son and brother anyone could hope for".

Tom Chisnell, 25, of Keyes Road, Lakenham, was returning from a poker game at his parents' pub in Coltishall when his 600cc bike was involved in an accident at Barn Road, Norwich.

Tom, who bought the bike the previous week, died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash, which happened at about 1am on Thursday.

His father Dave, 54, who runs the Railway Tavern pub at Station Road, Coltishall, with his wife Lynne, 49, and the help of their children Richard, 27, and Alice, 18, said Tom's death had left "an enormous gap" in the family.

Mr Chisnell, who also ran popular "ghost walks" around Norwich for a decade, said: "We loved Tom so very, very much and always will and don't believe we will ever get over his death."

He added: "He was on his way home from here. We had a poker night in the pub and he was following a group of friends in the car and his girlfriend Jo, who he lives with, was in a car behind."

It is not yet clear what caused the crash, but Tom's friends and an off-duty police officer tried to come to his aid before the paramedics arrived.

However, there was nothing that could be done and Tom died at the scene as a result of his injuries.

"Lynne and I will have to decide how best to carry on without Tom, but it's not going to be easy," said Mr Chisnell. "Tom's death has left an enormous gap in our family and one that will never be filled.

"Tom was the most wonderful son and brother anyone could hope for. Possibly Tom's greatest gift was that of friendship and loyalty. We have received so many messages over the past few days from Tom's friends that confirm how much he was loved by so many people."

Tom, a former Wymondham High School pupil, used to work at Norwich Union and Marsh but had been working in the administration department at Norwich City College for the past couple of years. He was also studying media at the Ipswich Road college and was hoping to go to university after having developed a love of studying film.

"He just loved movies," said Mr Chisnell. "I've no idea how many DVDs he had, but it ran into three figures. He would always be going to Cinema City if an unusual film was on."

Mr Chisnell, who for the past 10 years has run the city's ghost and horror walks from Tombland, said Tom often helped him out by dressing up as characters on the walk.

"Tom probably did the very first one for us in Halloween 1998," he said. "He was not very keen on doing anything without a mask on, but he was very good and did a great Freddy Krueger one year which scared people rigid.

"Tom was probably the only member of the family who laughed at my really corny jokes. He was very good in as much as if people were getting a bit stressed he would say, let's do this - he had this sort of calming influence where he would step in and say it's not that bad, let's just sort it."

Tom, who was due to move back with his family at the pub after Christmas, was a big Arsenal fan and had a ticket for Saturday's top-of-the-table clash with Manchester United.

The Railway Tavern has not opened since Tom's death and is likely to remain closed for the next couple of weeks to allow funeral arrangements to be made.