A MOTORCYCLIST told his mother he loved her an hour before he was fatally injured in a road accident.

Robert Thompson, 29, crashed at a roundabout at the junction of Skimmingdish Lane and Launton Road, in Bicester, at 2pm on Saturday and died before he reached hospital.

Yesterday his family described him as a fun-loving man with a cheeky smile, who doted on his 13-month-old daughter Kyra Thompson-Saunders.

His mother Diane Thompson, of St Andrew’s Road, Chinnor, said Mr Thompson, who had three sisters, Sarah Laskey, 42, Emma Morris, 39, and Wendy Thompson, 35, was mischievous and very popular.

She said: “All the women liked him. There was devilment in his eyes. He just had a way about him that you could not dislike him.

“I spoke to him an hour before it happened and he was so happy.

“He said ‘I’ve go to go, love you’, and I said ‘love you too’. I’m so lucky to have been able to say that.”

Mr Thompson, who would have been 30 next month, was a keen angler and kept a tropical fish tank at his home in Michaelis Road, Thame.

His other passion was motorbikes. When he was two, he was given an electric three-wheel bike which he loved, and as a teenager he began trail-riding.

Mr Thompson had been unable to work for about six years after an accident left him with temporary epilepsy.

Before his death, his family said he had got his life back on track and was hoping to return to work in the building trade.

Mrs Thompson described how several years ago her son tried to get work by advertising in the Chinnor Parish Pump newsletter. But the problem was he would not take payment from local pensioners he did odd jobs for, instead accepting only a cup of tea.

Mrs Thompson said: “He had two different sides. He didn’t let his mates know he was a softy.

“He absolutely idolised his daughter. She’s identical to Robert and she has got his mischief.”

Former Lord Williams’s School pupil Mr Thompson had 14 nieces and nephews. One of them, Chloe Morris, 12, of Thame, has drawn a picture of Robert with all his family, which will be placed inside his coffin, with the messages rest in peace and happy birthday and happy father’s Day.

Mrs Morris, 39, said: “I feel like my guardian angel has gone. He was always there for me when I needed him.

“He lived life to the full. His family was important to him. He will be sadly missed by a lot of people.

Mrs Laskey, 42, added: “He had sorted his life out and he had reached a peak in his life where he was happy and his future was looking good.”

Friend Ben Jackson, known as Billy, said: “If one of his mates was in trouble you could count on him. He was very loyal, he had a heart of gold.”

An inquest into Mr Thompson’s death was due to be opened today.