Otley town centre fell silent yesterday as hundreds of people gathered to pay their respects to a soldier killed on duty in Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal David Andrew Ramsden, of the 1st Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, died alongside three other soldiers when their vehicle plunged into a canal on June 23 as they responded to an attack on a police checkpoint near Gereshk in Helmand Province.

All four died at the scene. They were part of a team whose job was to mentor the Afghan National Police.

Crowds lined the streets of the town, where L Cpl Ramsden was born and raised before moving with his family to Leeds, to watch the 26-year-old’s funeral cortege as it arrived outside All Saints Parish Church.

His coffin, surrounded by wreaths spelling out ‘Dave’, was draped with a Union flag with his regimental hat and belt placed on top.

It was carried into the church as soldiers from the battalion formed a guard of honour.

L Cpl Ramsden was an experienced and respected soldier who had also served in Iraq, Bosnia and Northern Ireland.

But colleagues speaking at the service, which was broadcast so the large crowds who had gathered outside could hear, were also keen to remember a fun-loving young man they had nicknamed Lizard.

One soldier spoke of his fallen comrade’s good humour and positive attitude.

He said: “We should take inspiration from that. We’re all better for having known him. He was loved by many, respected by all and will be forgotten by no-one.”

The service, led by the Rev Graham Buttanshaw and Padre J Sean Robertshaw, included a rifle salute and an immaculately-observed two-minute silence.

The crowd applauded as the coffin, which was followed by his mother Shirley, father Eddie, sisters Zoey and twin Emma, and brothers Matthew and Jeremy, was brought out of the church.