VILLAGERS who clubbed together to pay for a permanent memorial to York car accident victim Dean Kneeshaw were today thanked for their generosity by his girlfriend Vicky Ryan.

Villagers in Stillington, where 26-year-old Dean and Vicky spent much of their time, were so shocked by his sudden death in a car accident at Sutton-on-the-Forest they collected money for a bench which has now been installed in front of Dean's local, the White Bear.

Dean, who died in February, lived in Clifton with Vicky, but the couple spent most of their free time in the North Yorkshire village with Vicky's family.

Landlord and collection organiser Philip Robinson said: "He was very popular in the village. He had a lot of friends here and he was a well-liked guy who was full of life and full of jokes."

Vicky, who moved back to live with her mother Hilda and stepdad Graham Hill in Stillington after Dean's death, said she had been moved by the tribute.

"Although he lived in York he was well liked here and I'm really grateful for this - it's lovely," she said.

Vicky and Dean had been together for six years when he died and she was dealt a second blow two days afterwards when their house in Clifton was burgled, and jewellery he had bought for her was stolen.

Graham said: "They were planning to sell the house and move to Stillington and wanted to convert the barn next to our smallholding. They were going to get engaged this year.

"This was a really nice gesture for someone who didn't live in the village."

He said about 250 people, many of them from Stillington, had attended Dean's funeral in Haxby.

The bench was made by Derek Harrison, of Acorn Industries, at Brandsby, and bears a plaque in Dean's memory.

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