A bereaved mother who lost her son in a car accident said a fundraising day to pay for him to be buried alongside his friends went “brilliantly”.

Viv Fegan, the mother of Ashley Jones, organised the day with close friend Daniell Prior to raise enough money to bury Ashley alongside his two friends Jack Boyton and Harry Ferrand.

The two friends have set up a charity called Ashley's Wish and have been fundraising since Ashley, 19, died with best friends Jack and Harry, both 17, on November 9, 2012.

Ashley’s family were not entitled to road traffic accident payment because he was older than 18, which left his mother Viv Fegan unable to pay for burial alongside his friends.

So far, Ms Fegan, who lives in Canvey Island, Essex, and Ms Prior have raised more than half the £4,000 needed.

Ms Fegan said she was not going to count the money until the end of the day, but she was hopeful of being able to lay Ashley where he belongs.

She said: “The day has gone brilliantly, and I couldn’t have done it without Danielle. She’s organised it all.

“It’s hard coming back here, because I when I moved to Essex I would only come back here to visit Ashley. So there are a lot of memories around the place. I’m walking around in a bit of a daze to be honest.”

Ms Fegan’s godfather, Ray Boreham, said: “It’s been very hard for Viv. At the time of the accident, she just didn’t know what to do. She spoke to him on the afternoon of the accident on the phone.

“She couldn’t bear to be without him so she took his ashes back to Essex with her. But now there’s space between the other two boys, where Ashley will go.”

Ms Fegan’s sister Patsy said that the support from the local community had been “amazing”.

Ms Prior said she was hopeful they had raised a lot, as people had all been “generous” and all of the raffle prizes had been donated and people had given their time up for free.

A special visit from paradise wildlife park, who brought snakes and turtles, were among the main attractions, as well as a bouncy castle, balloon model entertainers, tombola, face painting and a raffle.