HEARTFELT tributes have been paid to a “thoughtful” and “kind” Bromsgrove engineer who tragically died when his motorbike hit a wall in South Staffordshire.

Richard Garfield, 47, who worked as a service engineer for the MJC Group in Bromsgrove, died after the Honda CBR 600 motorbike he was riding hit the wall in Bridgnorth Road, Stourton, at about 10.20pm on Sunday, (August 12).

Mr Garfield’s wife, Emma, 42, said her family had been left “devastated” by his death.

Paying tribute to her husband of 14 years she said: “He was a very private man but very thoughtful and very kind.

“He was always thinking of other people and he was very well liked with everybody that knew him. He absolutely loved his bike and he was a very, very careful driver. I’m absolutely devastated.”

She added Mr Garfield, who lived in Kidderminster, was a “nice guy” with a “cheeky smile”.

“He had this really cheeky kind of grin and his eyes sparkled when he smiled at you. It was just a really cheeky chappy kind of smile.”

Mrs Garfield’s sister, Joanna Heeley, added: “Richard was his own person. He was just Richard. He had a lovely smile and that’s what I will always remember about him.

“His interests were his bike and motorsport and he supported Arsenal. He loved computers. If the computer broke down Richard was your man. Everything was nice about him.”

The family are requesting people make donations to the Midlands Air Ambulance, in his memory.

Mrs Garfield said: “Richard was a very big believer in the air ambulance and always liked to support them as much as he could.”