A YOUNG dad was killed as he drove home to celebrate his 22nd birthday with his family.

Kevin Redding died instantly after his car careered across a notorious stretch of road and collided with two vans.

He was less than half an hour from his Southampton home where he was returning to spend the remainder of his birthday with his girlfriend and seven-month-old baby daughter.

But as partner Carly Pearman waited to greet him she instead found police at her doorstep who had arrived to break the shattering news that Kevin was dead.

Today the 23-year-old paid tribute to the fun-loving and generous man who she planned to marry and with whom she had set up home.

Speaking to the Daily Echo she told how they had looked forward to spending their first Christmas together as a family.

It hasn't hit me yet' Carly said: "It hasn't really hit me yet. When the police came to the door, I was carrying our daughter Bobbi and I was just screaming. I couldn't take it in, I just didn't believe he was dead.

"I was in complete shock, I didn't know what to think and even when they handed me his wallet and belongings I just kept thinking he was alive and in the hospital.

"Kev had been working a half day and was coming home to spend his birthday with us. In the morning he had asked me if he could open his presents and I said no - he should wait until he came back home. I wish I hadn't said that now."

Carly had decorated their Millbrook home with balloons and had bought a cake as a surprise but has only managed to return home once since the tragedy because she cannot face being there alone.

"He was the nicest lad I have ever met. We met on New Year's Eve through a friend and things just went from there. He was quite passive, he would never be argumentative. We didn't go out a lot, mainly since the birth of Bobbi, but he was the one. He'd asked me to marry him several times and we planned to once we had the money. Night times are the hardest at the moment - during the day I just think he's at work but in the evening he doesn't come home. Bobbi used to get excited when she heard his keys in the door and Kev would come in and grab her straightaway. She doesn't really know what's going on, I feel so sorry for her."

Kev, an executive car valet and delivery driver, was a keen footballer who was loved by his team-mates at Freemantle AFC.

Carly said: "I used to go and watch him play football, he just loved it. I'll probably carry on going to support Freemantle because I know that's what he would like me to do. I feel sorry because he is going to miss out on so much of Bobbi's life and she is going to grow up not knowing her dad. The whole thing is like a bad dream."

The accident happened when Kevin's car was in collision with a Ford Transit milk van and a Renault van on the notorious A36 at West Wellow. The road is dubbed Death Valley due to the number of accidents that have occurred there.

As previously reported in the Daily Echo the tragedy happened as road bosses revealed that a planned roundabout designed to slow traffic on the notorious road has been delayed due to concerns about wildlife.