Tributes have been paid to a 19-year-old Rowley Regis man killed after a disturbance at a pub last Friday night.

Flowers and messages of condolence line the pavement outside The Chaplin pub, on Dudley Road, after Richard Blakeway died as a result of a fractured skull when violence erupted outside the venue just before midnight.

Richard (pictured right), of Royal Oak Road, was found lying unconscious by emergency services on nearby St Giles Avenue and died a short while later.

An 18-year-old man has been remanded in custody charged with his murder.

Shocked friends and relatives have described the former Britannia and Heathfields Foundation College pupil as a "laid-back guy" who was "fun to be around."

Mark Coley, who first met Richard at nursery school, said he could not understand what had happened.

Mark, who is also aged 19, said: "I keep thinking about him and I keep expecting to see him and it's difficult to accept that's not going to happen.

"Richard was one of those people who was up for anything, nothing fazed him.

"In all the years I knew him he never had a cross word with anyone.

"If people took the mickey out of him, he just let it go over his head.

"He was very laid back and a fun guy to be around.

"I can't begin to think what his parents must be going through, it's horrible."

Mark revealed how Richard, who worked as a press operator in Oldbury and was studying for an apprenticeship, was a keen pool player and also enjoyed quad biking.

An avid Wolverhampton Wanderers fan, he had a large circle of friends and had a close relationship with his parents, his three brothers and sister.

Uncle Mark Locke said he and the rest of the family were struggling to come to terms with their loss since first hearing of Richard's death in the early hours of Saturday morning.

He said: "Richard was a really nice lad.

He was a hard worker and he loved going out with his mates.

"He did not deserve this to happen, the whole family have been left devastated."