Tributes to Bakkavor worker who died in Lincolnshire village crash

Family and friends have paid tribute to a 40-year-old man who sadly died in a crash in a Lincolnshire village last week.

Lincolnshire Police attended a collision between a Vauxhall Meriva and a lorry on Centenary Way in Sutton Bridge at 9.22am on Friday, December 16.

Sadly, the driver of the Meriva died at the scene and he has now been named as Andrius Toliunas, who worked as a hygiene operative at Bakkavor Salads in Sutton Bridge for 13 years and had only recently celebrated his 40th birthday.

Andrius Toliunas and his wife Ana Toliuniene with their son Aivaras.

Andrius, who lived with his wife Ana Toliuniene and their four-year-old son Aivaras, was travelling the short distance home on his break because he had forgotten his lunch and was going home to eat. On the way home, his car collided with a lorry in a crash which was sadly fatal.

The family intend to return his body to Elektrėnai in Lithuania and their next door neighbour in Sutton Bridge of seven years, Gareth Edwards, set up a fundraiser to help towards this and funeral costs.

Make a donation to the fundraiser here

Gareth, who also previously worked with Andrius at Bakkavor 10 years ago, told The Lincolnite: “I found him to be a very friendly and considerate person. He was always in a good mood and happy to chat, he’ll be sorely missed.”

His wife Ana described Andrius as her “soulmate” and said she is “feeling the pain of his loss deep in her soul.”

Andrius’ colleagues plan to lay flowers at the site of the accident this week and the site employee forum at Bakkavor Salads in Sutton Bridge are also trying to help raise money for his family.

Andrius was a hygiene operative at Bakkavor Salads and cleaned the factory and all the machinery. His colleague Sean said this was from a “funny day” and was “his face every time I looked at him”.

Sean Starling, who worked with Andrius for five years and knew him for 10, said: “Andrius was a great guy and made me laugh every day with the way he came out with things and expressed himself. Thinking back they still make me laugh now.

“The first thing I thought of when thinking of him is how much he talked about his son, and how much he loved him and loved watching him play.

“He was one of the good guys and everyone here will miss him so much.”

His colleague Sean once drew a picture of Andrius “fooling around on his break” and it still makes him laugh to this day.

Lincolnshire Police are still appealing for any witnesses and anyone with dashcam footage to contact them on 101 quoting incident number 97 of December 16.

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