Tributes to "a brilliant friend"

The ceremony at St David's Church, Moreton, was the first funeral to be held for one of the seven victims of the A429 horror crash.

Natasha of Tinker's Close, Moreton, died when the car in which she was a passenger collided head on with another car on the Fosseway near Stow on Friday, March 7.

The Chipping Campden School pupil and the three other occupants of the grey Peugeot were declared dead at the scene. The driver and two other passengers of the other car, a green VW Passat, also died.

The afternoon sun shone through the church windows as family, friends and a large contingent of schoolmates from Natasha's year group remembered the teenager.

Two of her closest school friends, Gina and Dan, made moving tributes to the girl they described as always smiling and never complaining.

Dan read a poem, in which he said: "Saying goodbye is never easy, It's the hardest thing to do, What hurts even more, Is not to be able to say it to you."

He went on to describe Natasha as a "brilliant friend" who would always sit and listen.

"We will always remember the good times and the laughs," he said.

Struggling with her emotions, Gina remembered the girl she grew up with.

"She was the most amazing person in the world," she said.

"We will never forget you. You will be in our hearts. We will always love you," she added.

Reverend Stephen Wookey, who conducted the service, said such occasions inevitably left people feeling a range of emotions; an overwhelming sense of loss, of feeling cheated at the death of someone so young and a sense of shock.

He said people also felt a sense of anger at what he described as "the moment of madness" that led to the loss of so many lives.

"I don't need to say how deeply the accident has affected the community in Moreton and Stow and at the school," he said.

He spoke of Natasha's love for horses - she went riding at Bourton, her love of skiing and her love of theme park rides.

"She once went on the same ride at Chessington 28 times in a row," he said to laughter from the congregation.

Rev Wookey said Natasha adored dolphins and recalled the day her parents, Lorna Didcote, 32, and Phil Oliver, 38, took her to a travel agents in Worcester to book a surprise holiday to Cuba.

"When she found out she was going to swim with dolphins she was so overwhelmed, even staff in the office were moved to tears," he said.

Natasha had a great gift with and love for children and hoped to work in childcare, said Rev Wookey.

She was involved in the Big Fish group at St David's and had been invited by Gloucestershire evangelist Steve Hutchinson to help at the Scripture Union's Lagger Camp this summer, he added.

"She loved those camps and wanted to respond to God in whatever way she could," said Rev Wookey.

"She had her troubles. Life wasn't always easy. She made mistakes as we all do," he said.

"Give thanks for the memory of Natasha. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and all the families caught up in that dreadful accident."

Family and friends left the church to the sound of the Aerosmith classic "I don't want to miss a thing". The coffin was taken to the London Road cemetery for a private burial.

There were emotional scenes outside the church as school friends, many in tears, tried to console each other.

A collection for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society - something close to Natasha's heart - was made at the end of the service.

Donations can be sent to funeral directors Allen & Son, High Street, Moreton, GL56 0AF.

The funerals of Michola Jones, 31, and Ryan Bott, 20, who died in the car with Natasha, are taking place today.

A private cremation service is being held for John Kirby, 63, and his daughter, Julie, 34, who were in the other car involved in the collision, at Wellesbourne Crematorium next Tuesday.

The funeral of John Kirby's wife Maggie takes place at St Edward's Church, Stow at 12 noon next Wednesday.