M3 crash victim named as well-respected doctor known for 'banter and waistcoats'

A driver who died after his car crashed off a bridge and onto the M3 in Camberley, northwest Surrey, has been named locally as a hospital emergency department consultant.

Surrey Police confirmed that, despite the best efforts of paramedics, the driver of the vehicle, a man in his 50s, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. Touching messages have been left for Nick Payne, a highly respected former chief of Frimley Park Hospital's emergency department. He died on Tuesday in a road traffic collision, a spokesperson for Frimley Park Hospital has confirmed.

Mr Payne had recently been working as an Emergency Department Consultant but had previously been Chief of Service for the emergency department at Frimley Park for six years.

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A spokesperson for Frimley Park Hospital said: “We have had to make the very sad announcement to our staff today (Wednesday, October 2) that our well-respected colleague, Nick Payne, Emergency Department Consultant, died yesterday (Tuesday, October 1) in a road traffic collision.”

Flowers at the scene, where a vehicle hit a concrete barrier and went over the bridge onto the southbound carriageway, pay tribute to Nick, calling him a dear friend and mentor who will be remembered for his "smile, waistcoats and banter".

Numerous social media tributes to Mr Payne have been left both on the SurreyLive and Surrey Police updates about the M3 crash. Surrey Police is looking for witnesses to the crash and would particularly like to trace the movements of a black BMW I3 prior to the collision.

A Surrey Police spokesperson said: “If you were in the area between 5.20pm and 5.25pm yesterday (Tuesday) evening and witnessed the collision, or you have CCTV, dash cam or helmet cam footage that might have captured any part of this incident, please get in touch quoting reference PR/45240112326.”