A SOLDIER was killed in a collision with a coach while walking back to base after his own stag night, police said.

The 24-year-old, who has not yet been named, died on a notorious stretch of the A35 between Poole and Bere Regis at around 3am on Saturday.

He had been out with mates in Poole town centre and caught a taxi at the end of the night, said Sergeant Dave Stroud from Dorset Police.

But he only had enough money to get to Organford, still several miles from his destination, Bovington Camp and was dropped off there.

He was walking or running towards Bere Regis when he was struck from behind by the single-decker Excelsior coach.

“It’s a poignant and tragic case,” said Sgt Stroud.

The soldier’s fiancee was out of the country celebrating her hen night.

The accident took place near the Bloxworth turning, just under a mile west of the Morden Park crossroads.

The narrow, unlit and tree-lined section of the A35 has a reputation as an accident blackspot.

The soldier, from Southport on Merseyside, suffered serious head injuries and died shortly afterwards at the scene.

The 55-year-old driver from Bournemouth was treated for shock. There were no passengers on the coach.

The police closed the road and posted diversions so crash investigators could examine the scene.

The road re-opened at around 10 am on Saturday morning.

Sergeant Stroud said police were appealing for the driver of a goods lorry coming in the opposite direction at the time of the accident to come forward.

“They may have driven past the collision, most likely without realising.”

He added: “This is an unlit, rural road without a pavement and in places it’s subject to the national speed limit.

“It is not uncommon for people to walk back from Poole via this route and I would urge people to reconsider as they do put themselves in considerable danger.”

Purbeck district councillor for the area, Peter Wharf, expressed his sorrow at the tragedy and said the number of fatal road traffic collisions on the A35 was “depressing”.

An Army spokesman confirmed that the dead man was a serving soldier who had been doing |some training at Bovington.

His next of kin have been told of the tragedy, including his fiancee.

Witnesses to the incident itself, or anyone who saw the pedestrian or coach on this section of the A35 at this time, are asked to contact PC 2160 Edge of Western Traffic Unit on 01305 222222.