DOZENS of red balloons filled the sky as Lyme Regis remembered the tragic Red Arrows pilot who entertained crowds with a display just weeks earlier.

The community came together to pay tribute to Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging, who was killed when his Hawk T1 aircraft – Red 4 – crashed on Saturday.

The elite pilot was thrown from his aircraft when it came down in a field near Bournemouth International Airport.

The news sent ripples through Lyme Regis, where Flt Lt Egging had been part of the Royal Air Force aerobatics team which spectacularly opened Lyme Regis Lifeboat Week at the end of July.

Residents and visitors observed a one-minute silence before launching 73 red balloons from Lyme’s pebble beach on Monday evening.

Tags saying ‘RIP Red 4’ were attached to the balloons and a picture of Flt Lt Egging was staked in the pebbles.

The event was originally intended to be a small gathering between friends, organised by sisters Becca Overton and Kelly Scott and their mum Corinne Scott, but quickly grew as more people wished to pay their respects.

Becca, 19, said: “It all happened on Sunday and there has been such a good response on Facebook and Twitter.

“Seeing as they were here only a few weeks ago and they come here near enough every year, I thought it would be nice for Lyme to pay its respects.”

Kelly, 30, said the balloons went within a matter of minutes and people gave donations totalling £163, which will be given to the RAF Benevolent Fund.

“I think it showed just what a great community Lyme is and how much we appreciated the Red Arrows,” she said.

“It was only a few weeks ago that they were here flying above us giving a display that we will remember forever.

“For such a great loss for such a great man in the Red Arrows is just a tragedy and I wanted to show that people like that mean something to us.”

Mum Corinne said: “The turnout was marvellous. The Red Arrows give us pleasure so we thought we would do something for them.”

Phillip Lee, 37, of Queens Walk, Lyme Regis, was there with wife Cheryl, 31, son Ryan, 11, and daughter, Rachael, four.

He said: “For one of them to go down in the way he did, he needed to be remembered.”

Daniel Buckley, 30, of Queens Walk, said: “We wanted to show our respect. It’s good that the local community comes together for things like this.”

Chloe Rawlins, nine, said: “I felt sad that he died. It was a happy event for a sad occasion.”

Passing holidaymakers also joined in with the tribute, including Liz McGovern, 38, from Preston.

She said: “It just seems like a really sad story and it’s got the local aspect to it so it made sense to come down and show our respect.”

The organisers thanked Just Flowers in Seaton for providing the balloons and helium for free and all those who turned out.