MOVING tributes have been paid to a young motorcyclist who died while doing what he loved most in life.

Kirk Parsons, from Bovington, died after his bike was involved in a collision with a camper van driven by a pensioner at the entrance to Bovington Tank Museum.

The 27-year-old qualified mechanic and landscaper was described by family and friends as a witty and loveable person who was popular in the community he grew up in.

His father, Barry Parsons, of Higher Wood, said: “He was very loved and will be missed very much.”

Kirk, of Arras Road, could often be found under the bonnet of a car or working on his motorcycle, a powerful Honda which he was riding at the time of the fatal crash.

Around 20 of Kirk’s closest friends gathered in the Clouds Hill pub on the evening of the collision to remember him and have a drink in his memory.

Best friend Mark Briggs, 29, said they often worked together on restoration projects.

He said: “Kirk loved his bikes and cars. He used to scramble in his back garden when he was younger and then got a road bike.”

Kirk’s friend of 21 years, Steve Galinge, 27, said he had too many happy memories to pick out just one.

He said: “He was the first person I met when I moved from Germany. He was witty and funny.

“If he could do anything to help anyone he would, and he always thought about other people.

“As soon as you mentioned the name Kirk, everyone knew him. It is such a tragic loss – he will be missed.”

Steve added: “We were both into our bikes, but he didn’t do anything risky. When he went out for a ride he always had his wits about him.”

Although Kirk trained as a mechanic at college and worked at Garrison Garage in Bovington, he later became a landscaper and fencer for Sharman Fencing in Bere Regis.

But he worked on his beloved cars and bikes in his spare time, a passion which childhood friends Debbie Leathers and Jo Rolls say started at an early age.

The pair grew up with Kirk in Cologne Road and attended Bovington Middle School and The Purbeck School together.

Debbie, 26, said: “He was cheeky. He was always up to something and he knew how to wind you up, but he was always there if you needed him as well. “He loved his cars and used to buy all the parts and put them together. He made a Mini up from scratch and you’d always find him tinkering with something in his father’s front garden.”

Debbie moved to Germany eight years ago but returned last year to find her old friend hadn’t changed.

“This has been quite a shock,” she said. “It’s weird to think I was going to school with him every day and seeing him every day, and knowing now that I can’t see him again.”

Jo, 26, remembers Kirk as a ‘fun loving’ person.

The tributes continue to pour in, with many flowers and heartfelt messages to Kirk and his grieving family and friends left at the roadside.

Also left at the scene were two cans of Carling lager and cigarettes – the two things his friends said helped sum up fun loving Kirk’s attitude to life.