Friends and family today paid their respects to a popular university student who died after an attack in Ashford town centre.

Ben Neilson, 21, died in a London hospital on April 27, a week after the attack, which happened in the early hours of the morning of Tuesday, 21 April, near the fountain in the lower High Street.

Ben had been on a night out with friends while he was home from Northumbria University for the Easter holidays.

Two men have been charged with murder and are awaiting trial.

Ben, who was from Willesborough, was the youngest of three and uncle to his older brother’s two children.

Family wore black at the funeral, which took place at Willesborough parish church. Friends were asked to wear bright colours to remember Ben, who, in the days after his death, was described as the "heart and soul" of their friendship group.

The Neilson family requests that people do not send flowers, but instead donate money for a memorial via www.benneilsonmemorialfund.co.uk