A GURKHA plays the bagpipes during a tribute to a mother-of-two who died in an accident on the A590.

Michelle Jurd, 41, of Grange-over-Sands, was killed after the Citroen car she was driving was in collision with an articulated lorry at Gilpin Bridge last November.

A year on from the tragedy, her husband Neil threw a black tie dinner and ball, at the town’s Netherwood Hotel, in memory of the former RAF Squadron Leader, who served in Kosovo, Iraq and Northern Ireland.

Reflecting on the fundraiser, Major Jurd, who met his wife while they were both serving in Belize in 1993, said: “I was delighted with the evening. It was fantastic. It all went really, really well.”

About £16,000 was raised for the Gurkha Welfare Trust, the RAF Benevolent Fund and Grange C of E School.

He added: “My plan now, as long as my brilliant committee agrees, is to carry on and make this an annual event.”