THE FUNERAL of much-loved journalist James Driver-Fisher, who died aged just 37, has been held.

Family and friends bid farewell to the popular father-of-one at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Brierley Hill on Friday (November 26).

James, who worked for the Midland News Association – publishers of the Express & Star and Shropshire Star – died after he was hit by two cars in Saltwells Road in Netherton, on October 31.

The service was attended by around 200 people, with colleagues also gathering to pay their respects.

Tributes were also read out by James’s wife Kelly, mother Nadine, sister Hannah and brother Thomas.

Thomas, who is a musician, performed a song he had written for his brother.

James started with the Midland News Association (MNA) as a reporter on the Bridgnorth Journal in 2007, going on to be a sub-editor and latterly a content manager for the Express & Star and Shropshire Star and their sister weekly newspapers.

He was a regular contributor to the entertainment pages and also to the sports pages, thanks to his love of motorcycling.

An avid Aston Villa fan, James, who lived in Netherton, ran marathons to raise money for the John Taylor Hospice which cared for his late father.

A GoFundMe page was set up by his colleagues has so far raised more than £4k for his wife and young daughter.