A heart-broken father has spoken about the huge amount of tributes rolling in for his ‘gentle giant’ ahead of his funeral today.

Dozens of friends have changed their Facebook profiles to pictures of themselves to ones of them standing next to, and in many cases receiving hugs from, 20-year-old Richard Baker, who died after attending clubbing on Sunday, November 27.

Numerous others have spoken of their devastation at his death.

His dad Keith Baker said: “His Facebook page was a bit of a revelation to us.

“With a 20-year-old boy they go out of the door and you don’t really know what happens after that to be honest.”

He asked for any donations to go to the school or the church.

Mr Baker’s funeral was due to take place at Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Church in Tolworth, at 1pm, today (December 9), with a service at Kingston Crematorium at 3pm.

Friends, including former classmates from Richard Challoner School, will gather at the Cap in Hand pub on the Ace of Spades roundabout at 4pm to celebrate his life.

The Southampton student died in hospital after attending a club night at Alexandra Palace, north London.

Another man died the previous night and police are investigating whether they died after reacting to an illegal substance.

Tributes have poured in on social network site Facebook.

Tom Fogg said: “Your laugh was infectious and always made me smile. Festivals, gigs and pits will never be the same again.”

Joshua Francais Kwei said: “Thinking this is the last time I get to write to you is heart-breaking. There was not one bad bone in you, you were the nicest guy and I was lucky to call you friend.”