A team of railway engineers have raised thousands of pounds in a charity football match in memory of a much-missed colleague.

Symon Harris, from Chigwell, who had worked at the Selhurst Repair Shop for around 20 years, died suddenly of cancer in September 2018 at the age of 55.

In tribute to the late father-of-three and lathe operator, colleagues Jon Dye, Tom Mills and Justin Lanigan organised the tournament against several other Govia Thameslink Railway staff.

In total, £7,290 was raised for Cancer Research UK in memory of Mr Harris.

Speaking about Mr Harris, Mr Lanigan, the overhaul manager, said: “He was a proper engineer. He used to do lots of welding for us; he was a really clever guy.

“At over 6ft, he was a gentle giant. He was a big fella who never had a bad thing to say about anyone.

“He never complained about being ill. Losing him was a complete shock to us. It rocked the whole depot quite badly.”

The fundraising tournament took place in November 2018 at Elmers End, near Croydon, with about 40 players and 50 spectators.

Colleagues from depots in Hornsey, Brighton, Selhurst and Battersea were all involved and received support from Three Bridges, Monument, Go-Ahead House and Siemens workers.

Selhurst Repair Shop colleagues were crowned the winners of the fundraising event and recently presented a to Jackie Lawrie, manager of Cancer Research’s Beckenham shop.

Production leader Tom Mills said: “It was a big success to get all the depots together.

“Everyone chipped in. It was a really good day overall and we did Symon proud. There was no way we couldn’t win it.”

Following the success of last year’s football tournament, organisers are hoping to stage another one later this year.