Witney residents, moved by the death of 25-year-old Neil Thacker from the town, have donated £3,000 to the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance.

Mr Thacker, of Curbridge Road, was killed in March when his motorbike was involved in a crash with a pick-up truck on the A4095, just north of Bampton.

At his funeral last month, which was attended by hundreds of friends and family, his parents Ann and Steve and brother Martin asked for donations to be made to the air ambulance. Funds flooded in.

At Henry Box School on Thursday, Mr and Mrs Thacker handed over a cheque for £3,000.86 at a special event attended by family, friends, work colleagues and representatives from the air ambulance.

Mr Thacker said he was amazed at the generosity people had shown. He said: "It makes you realise just how popular he was. The undertaker said they had never had so much money for one person.

"You can't bring him back, but at least the money will help someone else."

Mr and Mrs Thacker said they were grateful to everyone who donated money and especially to Peter Smith, of E Taylor and Son undertakers and the Rev Bob Edy, of St Bartholomew's Church, Ducklington, for their help.

The family wanted to help the air ambulance as it had flown out to the accident and is funded almost solely by donations.

Glyn Lewis, area fundraiser for the charity, said the total raised was a credit to Mr Thacker's popularity.

He said: "We were quite surprised at how much money has been raised, but it's clear just how popular he was.

"I know his parents wanted to do something in his memory that suited who he was. We go out to give talks to a lot of motorcycle clubs and of course we attend incidents and it's nice that they thought of us."

It costs the air ambulance between £1,000 and £1,500 to attend an incident, and £90,000 a month to operate.

Mr Thacker, an experienced motorcyclist who had never had an accident before, was a pupil at Henry Box School, before going to West Oxfordshire Technology College.

He had worked for Mick Thompson Heating and Plumbing, where he began his apprenticeship, for nine years.

On Saturday, members of Bampton Weightlifting Club, which he attended, held a sponsored event at the club, to raise more funds in his memory. Fifteen members each lifted 1,000 tonnes.

Secretary Ray Fielding said: "We were all very close and trained together at the same time. We thought we'd like to do something in his memory."