Hundreds of mourners lined the streets for the funeral of one of the last of the "gipsy kings" today.

The coffin of Jim Smith, leader of a huge family of Romany gipsies from Worthing, was paraded through the streets of Ashington this afternoon before a commemorative service.

Around 800 members of Mr Smith's family along with friends and villagers lined the streets in blazing sunshine to watch as horse-drawn traps led the parade.

Hundreds of floral tributes loaded onto trucks followed the parade.

Mr Smith's son, Samson Smith, said: "It is a fitting day for a wonderful man."

Funeral director Ian Hart, said: "It has been an absolute privelege to hold this funeral service for such a wonderful man.

"It was a superb day and a fitting day."

Mourners began gathering in Church Lane from midday yesterday for the parade, which bought parts of the village to a standstill.

Since Friday friends and family had kept a fire burning around the clock in Church Lane in memory of the "gipsy king".

They then gathered inside St Peter and St Paul's Church, in Foster Lane, for the service commemorating Mr Smith's life.

He was laid to rest in a burial plot in the grave yard of the church next to his wife. Her funeral, held in 1999 also attracted hundreds of mourners.

After the service mourners then moved to the Red Lion pub for a wake.

Linda Hubbard, 32, from Ashington, said: "It was a spectacular parade for what I understand was a spectacular man.

"The horses and traps were incredibly pretty and it is very rare to see so many in one place these days.

"This was one of the last few original Romany gipsy families in this area and Jim was one of the last of a dying breed of gipsy kings."