THE funeral of a young girl who died in a house fire left many mourners struggling to contain their emotions.

Saltburn Methodist Church was silent as Jessica Braithwaite's tiny white coffin was carried in but the moving eulogy of Reverend Chris Eddy reduced many to tears.

The mischievous and fun-loving seven-year-old died after the fire at the family home in Hawthorn Road, Redcar, on May 3.

Her father Philip, a 49-year-old health and safety consultant, died in the same incident.

Jessica's mother, Christine Braithwaite, 51, survived uninjured.

Sister Catriona, nine, who was rescued from the blaze, remains "comfortable and stable" in James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.

Rev Eddy, who struggled to contain his own emotion throughout the service, spoke of Jessica's fun loving attitude to life.

He said: "We should not be here, this should never have happened. She had her whole life before her but she has been tragically taken away."

He spoke of how the youngster regularly attended Sunday school at the church, how he had joked with her the Sunday before the tragic events that led to her death and fun day she had in Whitby just hours before her death.

Yesterday, more than a hundred mourners came to pay their respects to the young girl.

Mourners were asked to give donations, in lieu, to James Cook Hospital's paediatric intensive care unit.

The seven-year-old's coffin left the church to music from her favourite film High School Musical.

The Northern Echo attended the funeral with the permission of Jessica's family.

* For a full report see The Northern Echo today.