An injured serviceman was "overwhelmed" by the kindness of strangers after a garage offered to fix his custom motorbike for free after a crash.

Former Royal Engineer, Chris Baker, 33, was blown up and shot at in Iraq ten years ago and was discharged from the Army in 2010, unable to walk due to a spinal cord injury.

After five years of being bed-ridden, Mr Baker, of Walford Way, Coggeshall, found a new lease of life riding motorbikes and invested in his own £12,500 Harley Davidson V-Rod trike, modified to carry his wheelchair on the back.

But after just one month of freedom, Chris was involved in a crash in Kelvedon High Street on July 11 which left his bike with at least £4,000-worth of damage.

After putting a hugely successful appeal on social media, local businesses rallied round and offered to fix up Chris’s pride and joy for free.

See tomorrow's Braintree and Witham Times for more.