The family of Saskia Jones have said they are “devastated” by her death in the London Bridge terror attack.

They described the 23-year-old as “a brilliant, caring daughter, grand-daughter, niece, cousin, friend and colleague”.

The family said in a statement: “We would like to thank all those who have expressed their condolences over the past week, since the events of Friday 29 November.

“We are very grateful for the huge number of messages of support we have received from family, friends and strangers alike. Their thoughts are very much appreciated. It has been made very clear that Saskia is held in the highest esteem by many people and that she had touched so many lives in a short time.”

Jones died alongside Jack Merritt, 25, in an attack launched by Usman Khan. The Cambridge graduates had been helping to organise a workshop for a prison-based education project, Learning Together, at Fishmongers’ Hall near the bridge.

Usman had been attending the event to celebrate the project’s fifth anniversary. He was shot dead by police on the bridge after stabbing the pair and injuring three other people.

At the inquest into their deaths, which opened and adjourned last week, Det Supt Des McHugh described Jones as “passionate about victim support”, detailing how she had applied to join the graduate recruitment programme of West Midlands police. He said she hoped to use that role to further her studies with a PhD at Oxford University.

She was a volunteer with the Learning Together programme, while the role of Merritt, who graduated with a master’s in criminology from the University of Cambridge in 2017, included rehabilitation work with prisoners.