Tributes and tears flowed at the funeral of a talented Leigh girl whose personality lit up a room.

Hundreds of family members and friends packed Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Cliffsea Grove, Leigh, to pay their last respects to Dannielle Sutherland.

Plumed black horses led the coffin of promising actress and singer, Dannielle, 16, of Leigham Court Drive, Leigh, who was killed in a tragic car accident on the A12.

She was a front seat passenger when the car veered off the Colchester bound carriageway and struck a lamp post.

Dannielle, who leaves her parents and three sisters, was a pupil of Westcliff High School for Girls, where a special assembly has been held in her honour.

Eight members of staff and many pupils joined the mourners at the funeral.

Her head teacher, Pat Elliott, included in her own warm words about the much loved and much missed pupil, tributes and memories from her friends and teachers.

She said: "She had a warm personality who lit up any room or stage."

Mrs Elliott quoted one of Dannielle's friends saying: "Her smile is something I shall always remember.

"You never had to look very hard for her. You could always hear her singing."

She took several roles in a school production of Oliver, and was to have starred as Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion.

Following her GCSEs, Dannielle was to have gone on to Southend High School for Boys to do theatre studies A level.

Mrs Elliott said: "Her death has affected everyone. Her best friends and schoolmates have been devastated."

She told how the head girl laid flowers at a special tree at the school with a message saying: "Thank you for showing us how precious life is. Westcliff will always remember you."

Fellow pupils at Westcliff High School for Girls, are raising money for a drama shield to be presented Dannielle's memory.

Staff and customers at Warders, the convenience store in Leigh Road, Leigh, where Dannielle worked part time, have raised around £286 for a special bench to be placed in the school grounds.

Funeral - mourners stream into the church for the funeral service

(Right) Dannielle Sutherland

Picture: ROBIN WOOSEY

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.