More than 200 people packed a chapel to pay tribute to a "local legend", sportsman and actor who died after gas cylinders exploded on his boat.

Tim Brooking, 67, well known in hockey circles across the south of England, was restoring a former lifeboat he intended to make his home when the explosion occurred in February.

The former East Grinstead teacher survived the blast which ripped the cabin and deck off his Pathfinder, docked in Shoreham harbour.

He was found under the cabin and was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton where he was kept on a life support machine for nearly six weeks.

He was said to be in a stable condition and friends and family hoped he would recover.

However, he never regained consciousness and died on April 8.

The chapel at the Surrey and Sussex Crematorium in Crawley was filled with people paying their last respects.

John Willmott, a long-term friend and hockey colleague, paid tribute to his friend's "unique brand of humour, generosity and ability to warm any occasion".

Mr Brooking was a local legend, he said, who loved women, hockey, acting and glass etching.

After the service, mourners were joined by more of Mr Brooking's friends at the East Grinstead Sports and County Club, where his old hockey team, the Llamas, laid on a buffet and tributes flowed.

His half-sister, Joanna Brooking, said: "The response from everyone has been so touching. So many people came forward to carry his coffin, which is a sign of how loved he was.

"The service was amazing. I thought I had picked the wrong hymn as it needed to be belted out and I didn't think a funeral was the place for it but everyone sung their hearts out for Tim."

Mr Brooking also loved cricket and played for the Dotties, whose photographs adorn the Griffin pub at Fletching, where he was a regular.

The son of actor John Franklyn and award-winning director Dorothea Brooking, he had drama in his blood and was best known for his work with the Nutley Drama Group.

Educated at Lancing College, he completed his National Service with the Royal Navy after graduating. He later became a teacher at Fonthill School, East Grinstead and went on to run a restaurant at Blindley Heath.

Donations in Mr Brooking's memory to the Rocking Horse Appeal and the New Venture Theatre in Brighton may be sent to Medhurst undertakers, High Street, Hartfield.

Fire investigation officers are preparing a report into the accident for the inquest, which will take place on July 1.