A bridegroom buried his wife-to-be on the day they had planned to marry.

Paul Dade had booked the church for what was supposed to be the happiest day of his life.

But Kathryn Harris, 52, died on Sunday. Instead of a joyful wedding, friends and loved ones yesterday filled St Peter's Church in Ardingly to pay their respects.

Mr Dade, 58, asked Kathryn, a poet, to marry him three months ago after learning she was terminally ill with a rare form of lung cancer.

The couple, who live in Ardingly and have four children between them, had been together for 29 years.

Mr Dade, an artist and antique furniture restorer, said: "Because we loved each other so much and we had both been married before, I never thought of asking her to marry me until she went in for a biopsy. But then I thought if I didn't do it she might never realise how much I love her."

Kathryn's coffin, adorned with a wreath of brightly coloured flowers, was taken to the church in a white horse-drawn carriage.

The congregation sang hymns including All Things Bright and Beautiful and Lord of all Hopefulness, Lord of all Joy. The coffin was then carried outside and buried in the cemetery.

After the service Mr Dade spoke of his love for Kathryn and of a trust fund he was setting up in her honour to ensure her death was not in vain.

He said: "She was just such a fantastic person. She was so pretty, I miss her dreadfully.

"We were so happy together but that's life, I have got to try and just live with it."

Kathryn first noticed her lymph nodes were swollen in the summer. She went to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath before being referred to a unit in Brighton.

But by then doctors told her she did not have long to live.

Mr Dade said: "She never grumbled when she was ill and when the doctor told her she was going to die she just said how awful it must be for him to have to tell someone that. She was a very brave woman."

He is now devoting his time to help campaign for a shorter wait between diagnosis and treatment. He believes if she had been given radiotherapy immediately she might have lived for another year.

He said: "By the time we got to Brighton it was too late. We thought we were going there to get treatment but we were told there was nothing they could do. The cancer had spread too far. You can't believe how quickly it happens, how it takes hold.

"Last week she had a party with the grandchildren and they were sitting on her lap and she was playing with them.

"It is hard for the children and grandchildren and that's what she worried about most - how they would cope."

Kathryn's son, Ryan Harris, 28, said his mother was "stoic, honest and selfless".

She had talked about her funeral and wanted it to be a celebration of her life.

He said: "She touched all of us here in her own very special way. She was unique to us all and we will always remember her."