A friend of a teenage girl who tragically died on a Weymouth railway line has cut her long hair to raise money to help with her pal's funeral costs.

Ruby Vetier, 12, wanted to do what she could to help with the funeral costs for Roxy Phillips, 15, who died on March 23.

Wey Valley schoolgirl Ruby grew up with Roxy, whose mother is her godmother.

Ruby decided to chop her long locks into a short bob – with the remaining hair being donated to the Little Princess Trust, a charity which provides real hair wigs, to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment and other conditions.

At the time of writing, Ruby has exceeded her target - raising £420 of a £250 goal that was set.

Tyra Vetier, Ruby’s mother, said: “This is important to us because Roxy’s mum is Ruby’s godmother and growing up, they spent a lot of time together, they would always have sleepovers.”

Ruby said: “It feels really good that I can raise this money as I know it will help Kerri (Roxy’s mother) out a lot.”

She added that she felt: “pretty good” about braving the chop and was “quite excited” to finally have it done.

Nicki Cattel, of Changing Grooms at Frederick Place, Weymouth volunteered to cut Ruby’s hair as she is a family friend and was happy to get involved.

Tyra said: “I didn’t think we’d get to £400.”

Her son was also a close friend of Roxy’s and along with his sister, the pair will be wearing items of Roxy’s clothing to her funeral.

Tyra explained: “Because the kids were close with Roxy, they have both got clothes of Roxy’s to wear to the funeral – Ruby is going to be wearing a jumper of hers tomorrow.”

Flowers have also been displayed in Radipole Gardens and at Upwey train station in tribute to Roxy following the tragedy.

In a tribute, Roxy was previously described by her family as: “A strong-willed young woman, an animal lover who loved horses especially her own horse, Bradley.”

A Go Fund Me page has been set up for Ruby’s fundraising efforts and if you would like to donate to it, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/rubys-hair-cut-for-roxy-phillips-funeral-fund?utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0xaxI8eO-kOxn4AMNVPYkHBgroNoi_cVnk9t3Z583w40UlLChnXBeCyac.