SKATEBOARDERS rolled up to pay a seafront tribute to their mate who fell victim to meningitis nine months ago.

Fifteen Blackpool teenagers, who were devastated when 17-year-old Michael Anderson died suddenly last December, clubbed together for a memorial plaque on a promenade bench near the bandstand where they skateboard.

The plaque pays tribute to Michael in his friends' own words -"Confident and fearless in all he tried. Never forgotten, remembered always."

Michael's parents, Clive and Elaine, and his 14-year-old brother Nicholas, of Grafton Street, were visibly touched by the youths' thoughtfulness.

"I was overwhelmed when they came up with the idea," said Mr Anderson. "It's a wonderful gesture."

Michael, a graphic design and photography student at Blackpool and the Fylde College, would travel across the country skateboarding with his friends.

Two days before he fell ill he had been skateboarding in Bolton with his best friend Justin D'Cunha, of High Street, Blackpool.

Justin said: "We thought a lot of Michael, we were all shocked when he died so suddenly. We wanted something to remember him by here, where we all used to skateboard together."

Justin's grandmother, Coun Mary Smith, said: "I know my grandson was devastated when it happened. Doing something like this is so important to them all.

"It was all their own idea, and they all clubbed together to pay for it."

Blackpool Council spokesman Mark Scrivens said: "We were pleased to donate a bench and to have the plaque inscribed for the youngsters. This is a special area for them and it's somewhere they can keep an eye on it."

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