A VERY special Hockey tournament has been held to honour the memory of a very special teenager.

Roller-hockey fanatic Alex Diplock, 19, was killed in a head-on collision on the Ferndown bypass last September, just hours before he was due to begin his university course.

Alex's mum, Jacqui Webb, decided to host a tournament in her son's memory.

Ferndown Leisure Centre hosted the event for free on Sunday and teams came from across the south to compete for a number of trophies.

Jacqui, from West Parley, said: "It's called the Spirit of Hockey, meaning Alex's spirit because he's here with us. We had some fun games where some parents played as well - we had 20 parents playing against four children and we didn't win, so that was a bit embarrassing."

Alex's brother Andrew, 13, who is captain of the Sharks team, collected the trophy on behalf of his team for the morning tournament while the winners of the afternoon event were the Mission Monkeys.

The Lions, the team for which Alex used to play, which was re-formed especially for the occasion, lost out in the final game to the Falcons.

A trophy was made by one of Alex's friends to present after that game.

The tournament was so successful that Jacqui is now planning to make it an annual event.

Alex died just hours after enrolling at Bournemouth University. He had dropped off his girlfriend after an evening out and was travelling home when Mark Wilson's van crashed into his car head-on.

Wilson, a father-of-two from Verity Crescent, Poole, was jailed last month for two years after admitting causing Alex's death by dangerous driving.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard how the 40-year-old had worked up to 16 hours a day and taken amphetamines to help him stay awake.

First published: April 5