Martyn Hett's mother pays tribute to 'smiling' and 'fun' son after Manchester bombing

The mother of social media star Martyn Hett has paid tribute to her "smiling" and "fun" son who "made such an impact".

Speaking publicly for the first time since her son was killed in the Manchester terror attack, Figen Murray told how he had "touched so many lives".

Sitting alongside her husband in their garden, she said: "When I think of Martyn, all I can think of is smiling.

"Because I have just so many fond and really funny memories, comical memories, him taking the mickey out of me - all that is in my head."

She recalled one of her fondest memories - when her homemade craft fair items failed to sell her son Martyn shared a tweet about it saying his heart was "breaking".

The post went global and Mrs Murray ended up selling all of her items to people as far as the US on the internet.

She went on to tell how "in his 29 years, made such an impact".

PR manager Martyn became well known on social media for his wit and obsession with Coronation Street's strong female characters.

On his website, he describes how he likes to make "silly videos with low production values" - with his Audrey Roberts Noise video pinned to the top of his Twitter feed.

Mrs Murray recalled a time when she phoned his boss to say thank you for the opportunity he had been given.

She said: "I rang his boss to say thank you for giving him such an opportunity to develop his skills while he was there and his boss cried, and told me how much he was thought of.

"And a lot of customers contacted them. So, he's touched so many lives - even at work.

"Our inboxes in our phones have not stopped. I've had over six or seven hundred messages.

"Long messages - often they start with 'you don't know who I am, I've never met you or your son but...'

"And it's all the influence he had on social media mainly."

His stepfather Stuart Murray added: "I've only just realised how many people thought so highly of him. How many lives he touched. It is just simply staggering what I'm hearing."