A CHARITY ball organised to celebrate the memory of a local footballer who was killed in a car accident raised more than £4,000.

Family and friends of Rowdy Blackwell joined forces to arrange the event as they wanted to 'do something special' to coincide with the 10th year of the Rowdy Blackwell Cup football tournament, which has taken place at Sandy Lane, Dawlish every summer since 2001.

This year's Rowdy Cup is scheduled to take place on August 15.

The ball was held at Dawlish Warren's Langstone Cliff, with 166 people attending.

An auction took place, with a signed Manchester United football raising £450 alone.

Together with ticket sales, a raffle and a donation of £500 made by the The Margaret Pope Foundation, the total was taken to £4,138.90.

The funds will be distributed between two chosen charities – Headway Devon and The Snooky Trust.

Kellie-Jo Blackwell, Rowdy's sister, said Rowdy would have been 'overwhelmed'.

She commented: 'The night went really well, there was a brilliant atmosphere and it was a great success in raising money for our chosen charities.

'We were touched by everyone's generosity – Rowdy would have been overwhelmed that so many people attended the event and made such an effort to raise money in honour of him.

'For this we thank them all so much.'

Kellie-Jo extended her thanks to everyone who donated raffle prizes and to The Cadence, Footlights, Mark Price and Liz Pope for providing the entertainment free of charge.

But she also felt the need to apologise for the food running out.

'Unfortunately, this was beyond our control,' added Kellie-Jo.