Friends and family of an acclaimed young animator have paid tribute to him after he lost a six year battle with cancer. Edd Gould, who studied at Richmond College, was the creator of the comedy cartoon Eddsworld which has a huge following among British and American teenagers.

More than 2.3m fans have viewed an online tribute video after the 23-year-old died on Sunday, March 25.

Friends, who described him as a “gentle soul”, filled the All Saints Church, in Isleworth, for his funeral on Tuesday, April 10.

His mother Sue, from Isleworth, said teachers recognised her son’s talent for drawing when he was a pupil at Orleans Park School, Twickenham.

She said: “There have been hundreds of tributes people have made and lots from over the world, which has been incredible.

“From a young age he was drawing doodles in the margins and getting told off for it.

“He never wanted to do anything else. Despite his illness he managed to carry on doing it despite the chemotherapy.” Mr Gould’s YouTube channel reportedly has more than 416,000 subscribers and his videos have been viewed 83m times.

He co-wrote and acted in the Eddsworld episodes, which star the characters Edd, Tom, Matt and previously Tord. Mr Gould had undergone chemotherapy treatment for three years and was given the all clear until the leukaemia came back in April last year.

His friend Tom Ridgewell, producer of Eddsworld, said: “He was a very genuine person, ridiculously driven and hard working. “He was completely focused on the cartoon. He would finish one project and start the next without a day’s break. He was just a gentle soul.”

The 21-year-old said he and his colleagues would continue making the popular series, including an unfinished episode that Mr Gould animated, and would donate all profits to a cancer charity.