A TEENAGE football fan who was killed in a motorway smash was given a standing ovation at an emotional funeral service.

Mourners whistled and cheered for 19-year-old Blackburn Rovers fan Carl Vause, like supporters do for footballers at his beloved Ewood Park.

Family and friends also wore football shirts in memory of Carl, of Amber Avenue, Roe Lee, Blackburn, who was killed on the M6 on May 6.

Many of those who attended the service at St Gabriel's Church, Blackburn including the pall bearers had the nickname "Vausie" and "Vausey" printed on the back of their Rovers shirts.

And the teenager, who was training to be a builder, was carried in a specially-designed coffin bearing the team's crest and the view from his seat at Ewood Park.

Moving tributes were paid to the former Pleckgate High School pupil, who was returning to Blackburn from his first week in a new job in London when the crash happened.

His father, also called Carl, was injured in the accident. His immediate family include his mother, Susan, and 18-year-old sister Sammy.

A wreath from his 20-year-old fiancee, Eileen, bore a card which said: "I love you so much and in my heart you will stay! One day we will meet again!"

Hundreds of mourners were led into the church, in Brownhill Road, yesterday afternoon to the sound of the rock song "One" by U2 and Mary J Blige. That was followed by the hymn "I, The Lord Of Sea And Sky".