THE OWNER of Penarth taxi firm K-Tax has been described as “a patriotic Welshman and dedicated family man” after he died in a crash in Sully last week.

Gareth Williams, who was aged 69, died in a crash on Cog Road in Sully after the Citroen C2 he was driving collided with a road sign.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the collision that happened near the Sully Inn pub on Thursday night, March 20, at 8.45pm.

Mr Williams, from Sully, is survived by his wife of 40 years Patricia, daughters Julie, Claire and Mandy, and grandchildren Alex, Anna, Dani, Cian and Mili.

His family said that he “lived life to the full” and that they were “devastated” by his death.

“He was very sociable with many friends,” they said.

“He was a great fan of rugby and football and thoroughly enjoyed watching both sports whenever he could.

“He was the head of our family who adored his grand-children and we will cherish all the good times and memories he gave us.

“We are devastated by our loss.”

Colleagues of Mr Williams, who owned K-Tax on Station Approach for the last 15 years, said that they would “keep the flag flying” at the taxi firm in his honour.

Close friend and longest serving colleague Albert Holland, who described himself as his “right hand man”, said: "He was the type of man whose work ethic was incredible.

"He was always the first in the office in the morning and the last to leave.

"He was a very fair man and a man’s man.”

He added: "I was working with him for 13 years after I was only supposed to help out for a weekend.

"We had a great working relationship.

"He's had the firm for 15 years and built it up from an ailing company into one of the Vale’s most successful private hire companies.”

He added that he was a “larger than life character” that was dedicated to his family.

“Whenever I spoke to him it was always about his family,” he said.

“He was a big family man.

“He always spoke about his family as they were paramount to him.”

He added that apart from work and family life he was a “patriotic Welshman” who could “stand up in a pub and give a song” that everybody would sing along to.

He added that the whole team at the taxi firm was “devastated” by his death.

“We will keep the flag flying for as long as the family want us to,” he said.

“We are trying to keep things together and serve our customers.”

Rhys Morgan, of Windsor Cars, said that he knew Mr Williams and his family for many years.

"He was a very colourful character and very popular in the Penarth community,” he said.

"He was the life and soul of the party.”

The road was closed for approximately four hours while police carried out initial investigations and recovered the vehicle.

South Wales Police are continuing to appeal for any witnesses to contact them. Police officers would like to speak to anyone who witnessed the collision or who stopped to provide assistance, or anyone who may have seen the vehicle being driven prior to the collision and who have not yet given their details.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the South Wales Police serious collision investigation unit on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.