Mourners will be asked to wear Arsenal shirts when they say a final farewell to teenager Jake Elphick-Cox.

The 14-year-old, who died of cancer, was a dedicated fan of the Gunners and fellow supporters were among those who paid tribute to him.

His family have asked people who knew Jake to either wear an Arsenal shirt or the club’s red and white colours to his funeral service on Thursday.

The service will be held at St Justus Church, Fairway, Rochester, at 10.30am and afterwards he will be buried at a private family ceremony at St Margaret’s cemetery, Maidstone Road, Rochester.

Donations can be made in Jake’s memory to the brainstrust and Demelza children’s hospice.

After the service mourners can go along to the Lordswood Sports and Social Club, in North Dane Way, Lordswood.

Jake’s mum Davina Cox said: “Everyone who knew Jake is welcome to come to the service and I hope they will go on to Lordswood Social Club as we will be having a get-together there afterwards and will release some balloons in his memory.

“I hope everyone wears their Arsenal shirts or the colours, so there is a sea of red. It is what Jake would have wanted.”

Jake, a pupil at the Thomas Aveling School in Rochester, died at home in Greenway, Chatham, last month.

He was diagnosed with a brain tumour when he was 10 and given the all-clear after months of chemotherapy.

But in September 2014, Jake and his family were told the tumour had returned and doctors had also found a tumour in his spine.

Mrs Cox, 43, said: “I am very proud to have been his mum and I feel like I’ve lost my right arm.

“I promised him he would not die in hospital, and I told him when he was diagnosed we would go through this together.”

Fellow Arsenal fans have been following his story on the Jake’s Journey Facebook page including One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson, who tweeted: “Sad news about brave Jake Elphick-Cox a committed footie fan of @Arsenal.”