PALS of a cricket-mad lad from Bransgore who died in a road accident last year have contributed to a bench dedicated to his memory.

Aarron Keeping, 12, was captain of Bransgore Cricket Club’s under-13s team until his death on September 30 last year when he was in collision with a car at the Crown Inn crossroads in the village.

At the time Michael Towers, father of Aarron’s young friend Ben, paid this tribute: “Aarron was the best batsman in the village of his age, probably the best all-rounder, and he was captain. He would have had a future in cricket that could have lasted... it was his passion.”

On Monday, the under-13 squad and friends and family gathered around the bench they had helped buy in his memory while vicar the Rev Peter Rickman dedicated it to Aarron.

Rev Rickman said: “We will remember the legacy he leaves us with as a village community: to make our roads safer and to make our children safer too.”

Donations for the sturdy wooden bench also came from Christchurch Swimming Club and Mudeford’s Elizabethan Masonic Lodge.

Aarron’s mother Freda said: “It’s lovely, isn’t it? It shows you how much they thought of Aarron.”