Football and cricket were the dominant themes as family and friends packed a church to remember a man crushed to death in a storm.

A Brighton and Hove Albion shirt and a Sussex County Cricket Club cap lay on the coffin of 33-year-old Andrew Rimmer at St John the Baptist Church in Palmeira Square, Hove.

Albion poet-in-residence Attila the Stockbroker contributed a poem in Mr Rimmer's memory which was read at the service.

Mr Rimmer was killed last month by a windstorm in Sydney, Australia, which toppled a tree on to the car in which he was travelling.

He was on his way to watch one of the junior teams from his North Sydney Football Club play in a cup final.

Mr Rimmer, from Hove, moved to Australia six years ago to work for direct marketing firm PureProfile.

Tributes were paid to his generous nature, his love of honesty and his sporting talents.

Mr Rimmer was formerly head boy at both Mowden School in Hove and Lancing College.

Former Mowden head Chris Snell recalled the "unforgettable year of 1983".

That year Mr Rimmer starred in the school's football, cricket and squash teams and also followed Albion to the FA Cup final at Wembley.

He often described the time his father Nicholas took him to see Albion beat Liverpool 2-1 in the fifth round en route to the final as the best day of his life.

More than 400 people gathered in the church where Mr Rimmer had been christened and where his parents, Nicholas and Hazel, had been married.

His parents both attended, along with his younger sister Lynne.