Fam­ily, friends and col­leagues have paid their respects to John Walm­s­ley, our High­ways Agency Traf­fic Offi­cer who died trag­i­cally in the course of his duty.

John died fol­low­ing an inci­dent on the M25 near Sevenoaks on 25 Sep­tem­ber 2012.

His funeral took place at Gravesend Methodist Church.

Fel­low Traf­fic Offi­cers from across the coun­try attended the ser­vice, some form­ing a guard of hon­our out­side the doors of the church. Inside, they joined John’s fam­ily and friends and other col­leagues to pay their respects.

Among the eulo­gies, John’s fel­low Traf­fic Offi­cer Daniel Lyons said:

“When work­ing with John it was a day out. We always got the work done but it was a plea­sure not a chore.

“He was a great traf­fic offi­cer but most of all he was a great friend.”

Nicky Potts, High­ways Agency Traf­fic Man­age­ment Direc­torate Head of On Road South, said:

“We are proud of all our Traf­fic offi­cers, but we are espe­cially proud of John. John was doing a job he loved, help­ing and pro­tect­ing others.

“The heart­felt mes­sages in the con­do­lence books we have opened show just how many lives he touched, how many peo­ple he inspired and how much of him­self he shared with so many.”

John’s fam­ily have wel­comed char­ity dona­tions in his mem­ory and named his two favoured charities:Kent,Surreyand Sus­sex Air Ambu­lance Trust and the Ellenor­Lions Hospice:

•  Kent, Sur­rey and Sus­sex Air Ambu­lance Trust – John was a big sup­porter of the Kent air ambu­lance ser­vice, which responded to the inci­dent that he was involved in.
• Ellenor­Lions Hos­pice – John reg­u­larly gave money to Ellenor­Lions Hos­pice, based in North­fleet in Kent, who pro­vide hos­pice care for 300 adults and 80 chil­dren, as well as pro­vid­ing 250 peo­ple with in-hospice care.

Dona­tions can still be made via John’s Just­Giv­ing page.

Our deep­est sym­pa­thies are with his fam­ily, friends and col­leagues at this time.

John’s fam­ily have released the fol­low­ing tribute:

“John Walm­s­ley, our dad, was a great dad, grandad and most impor­tantly great hus­band, who is irre­place­able. He had the affec­tion and respect of just about every­one he came in con­tact with, due to his hon­esty and kind­ness with/to them. He will be greatly missed by his fam­ily and all who knew him. xx”

We are col­lat­ing con­do­lences to for­ward to John’s fam­ily. If you would like to add yours, we will be mon­i­tor­ing our offi­cial Twit­ter account Highways_Agency, and also the hash­tags #JWTO and #HATO. You can also email your mes­sages to ha_info@highways.gsi.gov.uk, please use ‘In mem­ory of John Walm­s­ley’ as the sub­ject head­ing of your e-mail.

High­ways Agency col­leagues have been invited to share their thoughts and mem­o­ries of John on a spe­cial page on the staff intranet.

Flo­ral trib­utes in mem­ory of John sent to the Dart­ford Outstation