Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock has unveiled a blue life saving unit along the Thames in memory of schoolboy Kyrece Francis, who tragically died while swimming in the River Thames last summer.

Kyrece lost his life on the first day of the school holidays last year after getting in to difficulties in the river at Marlow.

Friends and family of the Great Marlow schoolboy then set up the charity, Kyrece’s Legacy, and rallied together to raise over £40,000 to pay for life saving equipment to be installed along the spot where he died.

And Miss Pinnock, who is a patron of the charity, joined Kyrece’s friends and family by the Thames at Westhorpe Farm to unveil the one-off unit, which represents Kyrece’s favourite football team, Chelsea.

The blue equipment completes the run of 16 life saving units which span from Bondig Bank to the west of Higginson Park, to Spade Oak Meadow in Bourne End.

The special unit was donated to the charity by signage company, Glasdone UK, who worked closely with Kyrece’s Legacy to design the life-saving equipment.

Charity secretary, and family friend of Kyrece, Tracy Chamberlain said: “Kyrece was a huge Chelsea fan and we wanted something that would be a tribute to him.

“Originally it was thought it would be impossible to match the colour. Tim Lane and his team (at Glasdon UK) searched for a colour match and after much research they managed to find the material that was needed to make this one-off unit in Chelsea blue.”

“The outpouring of love for Kyrece from the people of the community has been overwhelming. Friends from around the world have also sent donations and messages of support.”

Schools are now using video clips and information from the Kyrece's Legacy website, ky22.co.uk, for water safety education.

And the next step for the charity is to install more life saving equipment and signage along the river, warning of the dangers of the water and the hidden current.