FAMILY and friends of Edward Heal, who died last Christmas, have installed a bench at a Clevedon beauty spot to remember the popular teenager.

Edward, aged 19, died after he was involved in a collision with a car in Kenn Road on Christmas Day.

His family and friends raised the money to install the bench at Glebe Fields in his memory.

Edward’s aunt, Cheryl Avery, said: “We chose this particular place because, looking out, you can see Clevedon Pier and the beach and as a child we used to take Edward there a lot to go crabbing.

“Poet’s Walk goes around the back of Glebe Fields and the lane used to mean a lot to him because he used to walk the dogs there.

“The view from the bench also looks out over Kennaway, where he used to go fishing.

“We’ve got the bench quite high up because we want his friends and family to be able to see every place which reminds them of Edward and the things they did with him.

“It’s the perfect place. He loved being outdoors and I think he would have loved the location of the bench.”

Glebe Fields is currently being turned into a community space by St Andrew’s Church and Edward’s family decided to install the bench at the spot after seeing an article in the Times.

The family also donated some money to the St Andrew’s Glebe Community Project to pay for more shrubs and trees to be planted in the area, which will soon boast a new path, a nuttery and memorial benches.

It would have been Edward’s birthday on Friday and his family are inviting his friends to meet at the bench at 3-3.30pm on the day to set off some balloons in his memory.

Mrs Avery said: “We are asking people to bring a balloon so we can let them off altogether and say happy birthday to Edward.

“We also want to let all his friends know about the new bench.”

The commemorative seat will feature six plaques from different members of family and two close friends of Edward’s family.

Edward attended Clevedon School and was a trooper in the Kings Royal Hussars.