THE funeral of a soldier killed on a Dorset road will be held at the same church where he was due next week to be married.

Matthew Cottrell, 24, newly recruited as a Sapper in the Royal Engineers, died in a collision with a coach on Saturday morning after celebrating his upcoming wedding with Army pals in Dorset.

The soldier was “genuinely excited” about marrying fiancee Debbie Smith at the Holy Trinity in his home town of Southport, Merseyside, next week, the Rev Rod Garner said.

The congregation will now be mourning his death at a military funeral, likely to be held the day before.

Mr Garner, who spoke with Spr Cottrell’s family yesterday, said: “It is an incredibly sad event. They were both genuinely looking forward to the wedding. Couples vary in degrees of excitement in my experience but they were really excited.

“They had been through some very tough times together. He was her rock. He was going to be posted to Germany for five years and she was going to move with him. I was due to see them this coming Saturday for their wedding rehearsal.”

Spr Cottrell died after a collision with an Excelsior coach on an unlit stretch of the A35, on his way back to his base at Bovington. Efforts are being made to hold the funeral before the wedding date.