FAMILY and friends of a retired chef from Basingstoke, who used to cook for the Queen, are in mourning after the popular pensioner died in a road accident.

Korean War veteran Ronald Collins, 73, was fatally injured in a car crash on the M3, at 3.50am on Thursday, as he was returning home from his job as a marina security guard in Southampton.

Mr Collins, who was a member of the Conservative Party, had stood as a candidate in elections for Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.

Mr Collins' wife Diane died five years ago, aged 65. The couple had seven sons, two daughters, 23 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Paying tribute to his father, grieving son Pete Collins, 48, said: "He's going to be greatly missed. Dad was always there for us whenever we needed him. He worked all hours to keep us going."

His father, who lived in Westfield Road, Black Dam, entered the Royal Marines at 14 and served in Korea, Aden and Malaya.

As a bandsman, he played bugle and drums. It is believed he served with the Special Boat Service before joining the Army Catering Corps.

After leaving the Marines, Mr Collins went to work as a chef at Bramley Camp and then moved to Basingstoke in the early 1960s.

His catering work later included stints at The Red Lion, The White House and Lansing Bagnall in Basingstoke, plus 15 years in the Metropolitan Police catering division and, best of all for the staunch royalist, a spell at Buckingham Palace. There his tasks included baking cakes for Princes William and Harry.

Mr Collins' ability as a chef won him several awards, including National Chef of the Year in 2002, and Craftsman Chef of the Year in 1984 and 1986, from the Craft Guild of City Chefs.

His son Pete, a builder from Eastleigh, said: "I'm a brilliant cook - I learned a lot from him. He was good at his job."

He added his father was a keen sailor, who kept a small yacht in Portsmouth. He was also a regular at the Royal Navy Association Club, a member of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes and a member of Basingstoke Conservative Association.

Fellow Conservatives have been paying tribute to the well-known political activist who, in May, made an unsuccessful bid to become a Basingstoke and Deane borough councillor for Eastrop. Mr Collins had also previously stood for election in Buckskin and South Ham.

Borough and county councillor Phil Heath said: "He was a really good friend. I'm really going to miss him. There are a lot of people who are going to miss him who never knew all about the work he was doing for them.

"Although he never made it as a councillor, I think it's safe to say that, in his time, he did more for the people he wanted to represent than some councillors have achieved in a lifetime of service. That's not denigrating other councillors - it's just that he was so hard-working."

Cllr Stephen Reid, a former borough council leader, said: "He was a really nice guy and I was very sad to hear the news. He was always there, willing to stand in difficult seats and to give it a go."

And Cllr Stephen West, from Tadley, said: "Under that tough-guy exterior, he had a heart of gold."

Mr Collins was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which happened on the northbound carriageway of the M3, near Winchester services.

The blue Proton Wira saloon he was driving was involved in a collision with the back of a white Volvo lorry. The lorry driver, a 59-year-old man from Portsmouth, was shaken but uninjured.

Drivers were delayed and diverted during Thursday morning as Hampshire Constabulary investigators sealed off the northbound carriageway between junction nine for Winnall and junction eight for the A303.

Anyone with information about the accident, or who saw either vehicle beforehand, can contact Sergeant Mark Weller, at Farnborough Roads Policing Unit, quoting Operation Hawkeswood, by calling 0845 045 4545.