MORE than 80 Scouts joined hundreds of other mourners yesterday at the funeral of a dedicated Scout leader killed in a car accident earlier this month.

Alistair Peach, who would have been 22 tomorrow, died on his way home from a Scout meeting when his car crashed into a bridge at Winston, near Darlington, on September 18.

Cubs, Scouts, Rangers and leaders formed a guard of honour as Mr Peach's coffin was carried into St Michael and All Angels' Church, in Barningham, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, where he lived with his parents, Mike and Beverley, and younger sister, Claire.

Also in the congregation, which spilled out into the churchyard, were Mr Peach's friends from the University of Cambridge, where he studied engineering, and mourners from Brafferton, near Darlington, where Mr Peach grew up before moving house some months ago.

After a recital of the poem If, by Rudyard Kipling, Alan Wilson, from Heighington Baden Powell Scout Group, paid tribute to Mr Peach's dedication to the Scouting movement. "If we ever needed anything to show us what a true Scout should be, you could not go too wrong in looking at Alistair, who was a shining example," he said.

"As a leader, he took his responsibility seriously, with a mature attitude to the job. He was an asset to the group, while still remembering to have fun.

"No matter how difficult things got, we could always rely on Alistair to have a smile."

Peter Waddell, chaplain of Sidney Sussex College, described Mr Peach as "one of our best" as he explained the active role he played at Cambridge.

"He had time for everyone. He gave that smile to everyone and the whole college, not just students, loved him for it."

Mr Peach, a former student at Darlington's Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form Centre, was a keen rower while at Cambridge and was a member of Sidney Sussex College's First Men's Eights.

Family friend Bill Wood read a statement from Mr Peach's parents, saying: "Our children have always given us great joy and pleasure. Alistair was a wonderful son and a fantastic big brother. We have many, many happy memories that will never leave us."

Mr Peach's sister read Where go the Boats? by Robert Louis Stevenson, before a favourite piece of Alistair's music, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, was played.

Coldplay's Fix You played as Mr Peach's coffin was taken out of the church.

The Northern Echo attended the funeral with permission from Mr Peach's family.