NEARLY �3,000 has been raised in memory of Reydon teenager Daniel Hannant who tragically died in a drowning accident.Michael Hannant, Daniel's father, will handover a cheque for �2,400 to David Bird, chairman of Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue (SuLSaR) and �500 to Nichola Wright, for the East Anglia Air Ambulance (EAAA), on Monday.

NEARLY �3,000 has been raised in memory of Reydon teenager Daniel Hannant who tragically died in a drowning accident.

Michael Hannant, Daniel's father, will handover a cheque for �2,400 to David Bird, chairman of Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue (SuLSaR) and �500 to Nichola Wright, for the East Anglia Air Ambulance (EAAA), on Monday.

Mr Bird will be accompanied by some of the volunteers who led the two-day search for Daniel who died last month.

Staff at the town's Somerfield store began a collection for the family of the popular19-year-old, who had been working at the store for the past year.

Fundraiser and Somerfield store manager Louise McCartney said: "We are all deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our good friend and colleague Daniel. He will be greatly missed and we are pleased to honour his memory with this generous donation from the local community of Southwold.

"After we heard the sad news local people were keen to do something for the family so we started collecting in the store raising over �1,900 in just a few days - an incredible result. Somerfield also donated a further �1,000 to the cause which made a grand total of �2,900."

Daniel's parents requested that the money go to two local worthy causes in their son's name.

They pledged �2,400 to the Suffolk and Lowland Search and Rescue team for their significant contribution to the intensive search for Daniel, and �500 to the air ambulance.

Mr Bird said, 'On behalf of SuLSaR I am extremely grateful for this most generous donation from the community of Southwold to our cause, all moneys donated to our charity are directly used to fund our main aim which is to search for vulnerable missing people, and this extraordinary donation will go a long way to ensuring our continued dedication to this cause.

'It is very humbling to receive donations is this way, and our thoughts are with Daniel's family and friends at this sad time.

Nicky Wright, Suffolk fundraising coordinator for the EAAA, added: 'Our thoughts are, of course, with Daniel's parents. We're so grateful to them for helping to support us, particularly at this painful time. Like many other charities in our region, we're finding fundraising more difficult this year so the donation by Somerfield's staff and customers in memory of Daniel will make an important contribution towards our goal of keeping our two life-saving aircraft flying. We'd like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of them.'