A YOUNG Hampshire father has died after an early morning car crash near Gloucester on his way back from a day out at the Cheltenham Gold Cup races.

Max Jones, 33, pictured above, was killed when the car he was driving left the A38 near Whiteball Hill shortly after 7am on Saturday morning.

Today friends of the popular journalist paid tribute to the married father-of-one, describing him as a 'gregarious, funny, giant of a man, with a heart of total gold.'

Police investigating the fatal collision have now issued an appeal for witnesses in a bid to discover what actually led to Mr Jones' death.

Mr Jones, from Bishopstoke and who had previously worked for the Winchester News Extra before moving to another Winchester-based newspaper, is understood to have spent the previous day enjoying the horse racing at Cheltenham.

A police statement said the red Volvo he was driving was involved in a collision on the A38 in the direction of Wellington, and that he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers from the Avon and Somerset Roads Policing Unit immediately sealed off the A38 while an investigation into the accident got under way. No other cars were involved, and police are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

Yesterday family friends said his death had left his wife Clare completely and utterly devastated, and that she was inconsolable.