A STREET in an Essex town is set to be named after a fallen Bradford soldier who died 71 years ago today.

Sergeant Hendry Worthington was killed on June 6, 1944, when the vehicle he was travelling in - part of a convoy en route to Normandy - exploded in Colchester.

The town's civic society has successfully lobbied Colchester Borough Council for a street to be named in his honour, and Hendry Worthington Close is now set to be officially unveiled, hopefully by the end of the year.

Vic Lewis, a member of Colchester Civic Society involved in the campaign, said the group now wanted to trace any relatives of Sgt Worthington who may still be living in the Bradford district to invite them to the naming ceremony.

"His generation were all heroes in my mind, and there is a real connection with Sergeant Worthington, with him being killed here and being returned to be buried in his hometown of Bradford," he said.

"We are not entirely sure what exactly happened in the incident, it was just one of tragic accidents that happen far too often in wars."

Sgt Worthington, of the 11th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, lost his life when the Bren Gun carrier he was travelling with exploded while on its journey to France via the port at Ipswich.

Mr Lewis pieced together the story from a book of newspaper reports from the time, and learnt that Sgt Worthington had been returned to Bradford to be buried in Undercliffe Cemetery.

"My first port of call was the cemetery, as it was our only contact in Yorkshire," he said.

"Sgt Worthington was 31 when he died, the son of Christopher and Margaret Worthington.

"His widow was also called Margaret, and his family lived in Greengates at the time.

"It might be a long shot, but we are just hoping to make contact with any of his relatives still in Bradford, as it would be great to include them in the celebrations.

"Hopefully somebody may know of them, and we might get lucky in our search."

Sgt Worthington's grave is one of 134 Commonwealth war graves from the First and Second World War in Undercliffe Cemetery.

The graves are tended on behalf of the War Graves Commission by the Undercliffe Cemetery charity, members of which said they didn't remember speaking to any descendants of Sgt Worthington's family, or recall seeing regular visitors to his grave.

The Colchester Civic Society formed its own street-naming committee three years ago, submitting names to the authority for possible recognition.

A spokesman for Colchester Borough Council said yesterday: "We have a desire to honour the history of Colchester and as someone who sacrificed his own life to save others, we thought it would be a fitting tribute to Sgt. Hendry Worthington to name a road after him on the site where he was killed.

"Hendry Worthington Close is currently under construction, and we hope this is a suitable memorial to him and his family.”