The Rev Roger Collins, retired minister of Milton Baptist Church, where Ms Dando was baptised "When Jill was shot, a lively, loving beautiful light was extinguished, and darkness came to us all."

Mayor of Weston-super-Mare Ron Moons "Today marks part of the grieving process and a part of Jill is gone but I'm sure people won't forget her. It's an absolute tragedy for the town."

Derek James, 68, a resident of the town for 42 years "I think it is the saddest day in the history of Weston."

Rev Marc Owen, minister of Milton Baptist Church "And today we, along with many hundreds if not thousands of people not only in this community, not only in this nation, question "Why - why did Jill have to die?"

"It would be quite wrong for anybody to stand here today and pretend to have an answer to that question - in all honesty, we do not know."

Grace Humphries, a friend from Weston-super-Mare "Seeing the hearse made it worse. Jill is a hard act to follow and no one will take her place, even though she has gone. This marks both the end and a new beginning of what Jill Dando means to Weston-super-Mare."

Extract from prayers led by Rev Philip Gathercole, who baptised Miss Dando as a teenager "Our Father we thank you for Jill, a loving daughter, delightful sister, adoring fiancee, a loyal, thoughtful colleague at the Mercury, at the BBC in the West Country and London, generating happiness wherever she went.

"She won all our hearts as a friend in the front room, smiling her way through the good news, but sensitive to our feelings about the bad news."

Sir Cliff Richard, beginning Psalm 46 at the funeral service "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

A message on flowers left by a member of the public "RIP Jill. Weston's lost our princess."

Alan Farthing, fiance of Miss Dando "On behalf of Jill's family, I would like to thank you all for coming today. As some of you already know, Jill was good enough to list in her Filofax all of her very best friends.

"Sadly, it was a list of those people she wanted to come to the wedding."