MORE than 600 people gathered to pay their last respects to a Yorkshire soldier killed in Iraq.

Pte Luke Simpson, 21, described as a soldier with the highest personal and professional credentials, was killed in a bomb attack in southern Iraq on February 9.

He was the first member of the recently formed 1st Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, to be killed in action.

Friends, family and soldiers gathered at Howden Minster on Humberside in Pte Simpson's home town to pay their respects.

Six soldiers from the regiment acted as pallbearers as his coffin, draped in the Union Flag, was brought into the minster, followed by his close family.

Mr Simpson's six-year-old sister, Hannah, followed his coffin into the minster, carrying a small bunch of white chrysanthemums.

Mr Simpson, who was known as 'Boob' to his friends, was the 132nd member of the British Forces to die in Iraq since the start of the hostilities and the 101st killed in action.

He died of injuries sustained when the vehicle he was driving was hit by a roadside bomb.

He was returning to his base from a routine patrol when the device detonated near his vehicle.

Maj Toby Wilson, of the Yorkshire Regiment, said: "The regiment is absolutely devastated."