THE funeral of a young couple who died in a head-on road crash which also claimed the lives of six other people will be held in West Malling on Tuesday.

Kate Beasley, 29, and her husband Toby, 33, will be buried together at St Mary's Church, in the High Street - the place where they married five years ago. The service will be begin at 2pm.

The horrific collision occurred on the A23 near Brighton, on Sunday, May 16.

Mrs Beasley, who grew up in West Malling and had moved to Surrey, was the personal assistant of the chief executive of Cable & Wireless, Royston Hoggarth. She died of her injuries at the Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath, the day after the crash.

Her parents, who run the Appledene Bed and Breakfast, in Norman Road, West Malling, said that the whole family had rallied round to cope with the loss.

Her mother Maggie Lamb said: "Kate was like a ray of sunshine, she brightened up every room. She was the most bubbly girl and we were all proud of her. She brought the best out in everyone." Her father Dick added: "She was a daughter in a million."

Older sister, Zöe Taylor, from Barming, said that she adored her sister. She said: "The reason why we are dealing with it as well as we are is that we gave Kate all the love we could have. There are no regrets."

The family said that they did not want to feel angry about the deaths and thanked everyone who had sent their condolences.

Mrs Beasley, who attended More Park Primary School, West Malling, and St Simon Stock School, Maidstone, when she was Kate Lamb, moved away from Kent after she met her future husband during a holiday in Tenerife, where he worked as a DJ.

After living on the island for two years, the couple moved to Godalming, in Surrey.

On the day of the accident, Mr and Mrs Beasley had taken their friend Steve Mohabir, from Godalming, and his two-year-old son Marcus on a day trip to Brighton.

On their way back, a black BMW travelling south careered across the central reservation and collided with several oncoming vehicles, including the Land Rover Freelander driven by Mrs Beasley.

Her husband, who sat next to her, died at the scene. Marcus died in hospital a day later. Mr Mohabir survived and is in a stable condition in hospital.

Five young people from the Crawley area travelling in a BMW also died.

* Members of Mrs Beasley's family have asked for donations to her chosen charity, Cancer Research UK, by logging on to http://donateinmemory.cancerresearchuk.org and typing in her name.