TWO white horses and a glass-sided Victorian carriage took Chadlington teenager Jenny Fry on her last journey through the village on Monday as her funeral service took place at St Nicholas' Church.

Fifteen-year-old Jenny, a pupil at Chipping Norton School, died on June 11. She had been found by her mother, Debbie, in woods in Mill End.

Scores of mourners, many of them school friends, quietly followed the funeral cortege as it made its way through Chadlington to the packed church for a service led by Reverend Mark Abery.

Mr Abery told the congregation of the shock and disbelief everyone had felt at the news and manner of Jenny's death but added that those who had known her had benefited because they had shared her life. He urged everyone to 'remember her story'.

Jenny's father, Charles, said she was a great humanitarian who wanted to help people and disliked injustice. He described her as a fun and mischievous daughter who enjoyed deep and meaningful conversations and had given him the best 15 years of his life.

He said he had given her the first cuddle when she was born and her mother had given her the last cuddle in death.

He said he was proud of her determination and aspirations to help humanity and that she despaired at the way the world was going and the cruel ways people treated one another. And he said it was her strength of character that had endeared her to so many people. "You can cry because she is gone or you can smile because she lived," he said.

During the reading of a favourite piece of prose of Jenny's by John (Fire) Lame Deer, a Lakota Sioux Indian born on the Rosebud Indian reservation, the congregation was astounded to see a dragonfly emerge from the lillies on Jenny's coffin and fly above the congregation. Jenny's mum, Debbie, said she found out afterwards that to some native American tribes the dragonfly signified happiness, speed and purity.

When news first broke of Jenny's death, her headteacher Simon Duffy paid tribute to her on behalf of the whole school saying: "Jenny was an incredibly gifted student with huge potential. She had a particular flair for art even as a very young child. She was an enquiring individual who wanted to question everything. Her sense of humour made her likeable and she was popular with students and staff alike. "Students have described her as easy to talk to and a loyal friend. We will all miss her and our thoughts and prayers are with her family."

Her friends described her as someone who liked to make people laugh and was always fun.

Donations in lieu of flowers are to go towards providing a memorial in the village in her memory.