Former East Devon man killed as he bravely tried to stop his runaway coach with passengers on board

Tributes have been paid to a coach driver who died when he was run over by his own vehicle in a Devon car park.

Jeremy Takel, 50, worked for several years for Sewards Coaches, at Dalwood, when he lived at Combpyne.

The tragic accident happened after he got off his coach at the Famous Lee Mill clothes store, near Plymouth, and the vehicle rolled forward.

Former colleague Richard Long told the Herald he had bravely been trying to stop the coach as it began to run away with the passengers on board. It is believed Mr Takel had stopped the vehicle because of a suspected mechanical problem and as he got out to inspect it, the vehicle rolled forward into a hedge trapping him underneath.

The coach was carrying passengers on a day excursion from Paignton on Thursday, April 18. Mr Long said Mr Takel, who was not married, was well known in the Axminster area and regularly drove the school run with Sewards Coaches.

“He was a good man,” he said. “It was a tragic accident. The coach would not start and he got out.”

A spokeswoman at Sewards Coaches said Mr Takel had learnt to drive with them. “It is very sad, he was a lovely guy,” she said. “He did a lot of private hire with us but he left quite a few years ago.”