Charities are to benefit from the generosity of the motocross world as £8491 has been raised so far in honour of Simon Mitchell, who lost his life at Foxhill on Sunday when he was hit by a bike.

His family set up a funding page to raise money for his funeral. His sister Nicola posted: “We wish to give Simon the send off he deserves, but unfortunately do not have the funds to do so. Simon did not have much apart from his beloved cameras, which we will be keeping in the family.

“All proceeds will go towards his funeral, and anything left over will go to his two favourite charities – The Wiltshire Air Ambulance and the Little Stars Appeal for sick children at Salisbury Hospital, a charity very close to Simon’s heart and one he regularly raised money for auctioning signed photographs of MX riders.”

But the campaign has far exceeded the target so the charities will receive the remaining amount. Simon was a huge motocross fan and spent weekends photographing motocross to raise money for charity.

Simon’s funeral is Tuesday 6th June, 12.30 at Semington Crematorium, Wiltshire. The family want to make it as big an occasion as possible to celebrate Simon’s life, and one of the family’s wish is to have a motorbike for the funeral, so it can be started up so people can smell the 2 stroke.

If you wish to donate, the page is HERE