Partner's tribute to dead lorry driver

The driver had been sleeping in his cab at the rear of the store

The partner of a Devon lorry driver killed when a fire ripped through his vehicle has paid tribute to the "loving and caring father".

Derek Bailey, 48, from Bideford, was asleep in the cab of his 37-tonne truck when a fire tore through the vehicle on Thursday, 26 June.

The lorry was parked outside a Homebase store in Grimsby last Thursday morning when the fire broke out.

Mr Bailey was sleeping overnight in his cab before the journey back to Devon.

'Sorely missed'

Mr Bailey, a divorced father-of-four, only began long-distance driving in January.

His partner of six years, Claire Brimacombe, appealed for anyone with any information about the fire to come forward.

She added: "Derek was a loving and caring father and he will be sorely missed.

"He was close to all his children. There's now a big void to be filled."

Humberside Police were treating Mr Bailey's death as suspicious and have appealed for witnesses.