THEY came in their hundreds to pay tribute to a popular teenager whose life was cut short in its prime in a car accident.
Ross Hodgkins, of Golds-mith Road, Warndon, and his friend Richard Harvey were killed when their Peugeot 106 Quicksilver hit a tree at Crown East near Worcester shortly after midnight on Friday, Sep-tember 16.
At a moving ceremony at Worcester Crematorium yesterday, mourners paid tribute to the 'rascal' whose life had been full of teenage pranks, football and a love of cars.
The Reverend Derek Arnold summed up the question on everyone's mind when he asked: "Why Ross, God? We long for an answer."
On top of his coffin, his family had placed a model of his blue car made out of flowers and with the number plate RJH 1.
Ross, aged 18, was a former pupil of Nunnery Wood High School and Cranham Primary and had just started a course in car mechanics at Evesham College.
He dreamt of owning his own garage one day.
Mr Arnold read a letter written by Ross's mother, Dawn. "I smiled when I saw your expression in your pram," she said.
"I laughed when you told me you wanted to be a ghostbuster when you grew up.
"I smiled when you scored your first goal."
Mourners heard how Ross's life had been full of schoolboy tricks - squirting his mother with his windscreen washers and throwing eggs at front doors - but the kindness he showed to friends shone through.
The flowers told the story of his short life, some from Warndon Football Club, others in the shape of a steering wheel.
One bouquet, from his sister Carly, simply read: "My little bro, I love you and I want you back."
The service's music reflected Ross's life too. The upbeat songs Poison by Groove Coverage and Out of Touch by United Nations were his favourites.
He was a Liverpool football supporter and the congregation's singing of You'll Never Walk Alone was particularly poignant.
And judging by the hundreds who packed the crematorium, it was true too.
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