Colleagues have been remembering a Stevenage firefighter who was killed on the A1(M) while attending to a burning car on the hard shoulder.

Sunday (June 16) was the 17th anniversary of Paul Mallaghan's death. He was just 47 years old.

On that fateful day in 2007, a Saab car had caught fire and was stationary on the hard shoulder of the A1(M) at junction 8, Corey's Mill. 

A fire crew from Stevenage, under the command of sub officer Mallaghan, had arrived on the scene to put out the flames around the vehicle's engine.

Sub Officer Mallaghan, known as 'Mally', was looking under the bonnet of the vehicle when a Volkswagen Golf car slammed into the back of the Saab.

He and the Saab were propelled back and he ended up crushed under the car and died later from his injuries. Another fireman and a Highways Agency officer were also badly injured.

The driver of the Golf was subsequently jailed for two years for causing death by dangerous driving.

On Sunday, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Fire Brigades' Union posted on X (formerly Twitter): "Today we remember firefighter Paul Mallaghan, who lost his life after being hit by a car while tackling a fire near Stevenage, on this day in 2007."