Wellwishers have raised an incredible £12,000 in memory of Tenterden butcher David “Dazy” Saunders.

An appeal set up by his friend Harry Purewal, after the father-of-three died on Christmas Day, reached £3,500 within 15 minutes and kept going up.

Mr Purewal, landlord of The Crown pub at St Michael’s, had a final count-up this week following Mr Saunders’ funeral.

He said: “I am absolutely shaking. We have collected £12,111 with an extra £1,190 in pledges outstanding.

“It is absolutely incredible – I am flabbergasted. We had donations ranging from £1 to £500.

“When we started, we aimed to get between £4,000 and £5,000 and wanted to cover the funeral costs and have something to give Dazy’s wife Kelly and the children.

“We have already met the costs of the wake so just have to pay for the funeral, and then the rest goes to Kelly and the family to support them going forward.

“It won’t bring Dazy back, but can help ease their path and take some stress away from Kelly.”

Mr Purewal appealed to those with outstanding pledges to pay the money into the bank account.

The details are The Crown (Tenterden) Ltd, sort code 20-02-62, account number 63984354 with your name as the reference.

Mr Purewal thanked all those who had donated and helped with the appeal, especially his fiancee Kate Jenner, Sharon Charles at Bride of Tenterden for the funeral flowers and Mr Saunders’ employer, turkey farmer John Howe, who hosted the wake at his farm.

He added: “We are so grateful for everyone who helped give Dazy the send-off he deserved, which we did.”

Mr Saunders, 34, was found dead at home in Grange Road, St Michael’s, on Christmas Day morning by his wife.

They had three children, Daisy-Mae, four, Beau, two and Vincent, 11 months, and he worked for Farm Butchers which has shops in St Michael’s and Tenterden.