A Dorset soldier who died after a car crash has given life to five others through donating his organs.

Lance Corporal Matthew Hughes, a member of the Devon and Dorset Regiment, died in hospital in Glasgow last Saturday surrounded by his family and fiance.

He had been returning to his Northern Ireland base from an exercise in Scotland when the army Land Rover he was a passenger in crashed last Friday lunchtime killing the driver Lee Read, a soldier from Plymouth.

27-year-old Matt was airlifted to hospital having suffered multiple injuries and died the following day but not before his family agreed his organs could be used to help others.

His father, Richard "Dixie" Hughes, a former Dorset police officer, said: "Within hours Matt's organs were successfully transplanted meaning five families will have a happy Christmas, unlike us I'm afraid."

He added: "Matt was the best bloke I knew and had grown into such a good man. There is absolutely no way he can ever be replaced. It is a horrible thing we just do not understand."

The family had moved from Ferndown, where they had been well known in the community, to Northamptonshire in 1998.

Matt, also known as 'Badger,' and his two older brothers had attended school in the town and his mother Roma had worked as a nurse at Poole Hospital.

The family had maintained strong links with the area and Matt was engaged to Dorset nurse Elaine Jerrom.

On Thursday the Devon and Dorsets, currently stationed in Bally Kinler, Northern Ireland, remembered Matt and Lee with a minutes silence before the Ransome Cup final match, an annual football game. Players also wore black armbands.

The Devon and Dorsets hope to hold a memorial service for the men and are considering a memorial stone.

A full military funeral in his honour is to be held at Wimborne Minster on December 20 at 2pm.

Donations for the Army Benevolent Fund and the Intensive Therapy Unit at Southern General Hospital in Glasgow can be sent to Nicholas O'Hara Funeral Directors, 38 Rowlands Hill, Wimborne.