Hundreds line streets for Army officer's funeral - VIDEO

HUNDREDS of people turned out in South Yorkshire today to pay their respects at the funeral of an Army officer who died in hospital three weeks after he was wounded in Afghanistan.

Crowds gathered outside St John the Baptist Church in Cudworth, near Barnsley, as the family, friends and colleagues of Captain Martin Driver, 31, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, arrived with his coffin for the service.

Around 200 people, many in tears, crowded in the street as speakers relayed the funeral from the packed church.

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There was silence as the cortege approached through the village along closed-off streets lined by police and soldiers.

Capt Driver died in the UK on March 15 after being injured by a roadside bomb in the Musa Qala district in February.

The officer, from Barnsley, was on his second tour of Afghanistan and had previously served in Iraq and Northern Ireland as a reservist with 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

Capt Driver was seriously injured by an improvised explosive device while on patrol on February 21.

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He was flown back for treatment at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak, in Birmingham, but later died.

The mourners were led today by his parents, his fiancee Johanna Sellway and his twin brother David.

Capt Driver's funeral took place with full military honours.

His coffin was draped with a Union Flag and had a wreath of red poppies on top. Inside the hearse was a bouquet of white lilies.

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After his death his family thanked the medical teams who brought him back to Britain and tried to save him.

They said: "We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of our beloved Martin. He was such a caring young man who always put his family first. He touched the lives of all who had the privilege to know him.

"He died doing a job he loved. His dedication and professionalism will remain an inspiration to all."