A JOINT funeral is being held for a Malvern firefighter and his colleague's son who were killed in a road accident.

Retained firefighter Kevin Taylor and Mark Hitchins, both 28 and from Malvern, died when Mr Taylor's Yamaha 600cc motorbike was involved in a head-on collision with a Renault Clio on Saturday evening.

Malvern firefighters will form a guard of honour at the funeral. Both Mr Taylor, who was not on duty at the time, and Mr Hitchins, who was riding pillion, were pronounced dead at the scene, a country lane in Hall Green, near Guarlford.

Mr Taylor had been a retained firefighter at Malvern since February last year and worked for Sequani in Ledbury.

Mr Hitchins, son of leading firefighter John Hitchins, worked as a skilled glass fibre laminator in Pershore and wanted to become a firefighter like his dad.

Firefighters in full uniform will line the route into St Matthias' Church, Malvern Link, on Wednesday for the funeral service at 2pm.

The two men's colleagues and brothers will be pallbearers. Ian Seward, station officer at Malvern, said both Mr Taylor and Mr Hitchins would be greatly missed.

"The station is quite solemn, with people reflecting on the tragic loss of these two

individuals' lives, both of whom were well known and well respected," he said.

"We're a big family, that's the way we work. Malvern Fire Station is a unit within that family and we are all very close.

"It's a tragedy when one of our own firefighters or members of their families are affected.

"A number of firefighters have found themselves to be affected quite badly by this incident and the brigade is supporting them at this time."

Mr Seward described Mr Taylor as a quiet man, dedicated to his role as a firefighter.

"He was well-liked and well respected for what he has achieved in the 18 months that he'd been providing that cover," he said.

"John Hitchins has been a part of this station for nearly 30 years so he and his family are very much part of station life and very much part of the family."

The tragedy is the second to hit the town's firefighters in recent years.

In 1998, a crash on the A449 claimed the life of 18-year-old Katie Brown, whose father and brother were both serving firefighters at Malvern.

n In yesterday's Evening News, we mistakenly referred to Mr Taylor as "John".We apologise for this mistake and any distress caused.