HUNDREDS of mourners have paid tribute to a schoolboy who was killed with his best friend when they were hit by a car.Friends and family packed into St Mary at the Elms Church in Ipswich yesterdayto say their goodbyes to Scott Towler.

By Jonathan Barnes

HUNDREDS of mourners have paid tribute to a schoolboy who was killed with his best friend when they were hit by a car.

Friends and family packed into St Mary at the Elms Church in Ipswich yesterdayto say their goodbyes to Scott Towler.

The 15-year-old from Ipswich was killed three weeks ago in Fore Hamlet in the town, alongside Dean Bloomfield, who was also 15.

Scott's coffin was carried by horse-drawn carriage through town centre streets at 1.30pm, followed by hundreds of relatives and school friends.

Traffic came to a standstill as the procession worked its way through Valley Road, Norwich Road and

Civic Drive before arriving at the church in Elm Street.

Scott's aunt Christine Read, 47, of Valley Road, Ipswich, said: "It was Scott's day, everybody focussed on that and celebrated his life. It was a lovely service.

"It feels like we have taken Scott home. We christened him there, confirmed him there and now we've had his funeral there. It's just so sad he was so young and his life hadn't really started yet.

"We can't give Scott an 18th birthday or a 21st birthday and we can't embarrass him with family photos when he brings girlfriends home, so we did it all today."

Mrs Read said Scott's family wished to thank the funeral directors, Hunnaballs, the police for directing traffic during the procession and everyone who turned out to remember Scott.

"Words feel inadequate to say what we feel at the moment, but we would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts," she added.

Scott, who went to Stoke High School in Ipswich, lived at St Mary at the Elms cottage with his mother Trish King and sister Denise – just a few yards from the church where his funeral was held.

Mrs Read, who is also Scott's godparent, and his cousin LynseyRead, 23, read poems at the service, including Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep and One Night I Cried To Jesus.

Father Haley Dossor told more than 300 mourners that he saw and spoke to Scott almost every day and had known him all his life.

"Members of this church have seen him grow from a baby to a skateboarding youngster to the young teenager he became," he said.

"It is especially hard when one is saying goodbye to someone so young, someone who has not yet reached maturity, someone with so much life ahead of him, someone loved by so many."

Following the service, Scott's family attended a private ceremony at the West Chapel of the Ipswich Crematorium.

They plan to plant a tree in the garden of the house at St Mary at the Elms as a lasting tribute to Scott.

Scott died soon after the fatal crash at lunchtime on May 30 while Dean's family took the decision to turn off his life support machine the following day.

Hundreds of flowers and tributes from family, friends and well-wishers have been placed at the crash site in Fore Hamlet.

Flowers presented at yesterday's service will be added to the tributes on Fore Hamlet.

Dean Bloomfield's funeral is being held on Thursday at St Mary's Church, in the Stoke area of Ipswich, at 1pm.

n Zulfcar Ali, 33, of Boyton Road, Ipswich, has been charged with two counts of manslaughter in relation to the deaths of Dean and Scott.