Hundreds of people attended a memorial service for eight-year-old Sarah Payne last night on the first anniversary of her disappearance.

TV star Chris Tarrant joined Worthing residents on Goring Beach to celebrate the life of the youngster who was abducted from a country lane near Littlehampton.

Tarrant said he wanted to show support for Sarah's family, whom he deeply admires.

He said: "It is just beyond anything you can imagine going through as a parent.

"I have tremendous respect and love for the family. I just think afterwards the way the family handled it was done with such dignity, such bravery and such courage, it is one of those things that you think, There but for the grace of God ..."

Although Sarah's parents did not attend the memorial service, it did have the family's full support and Sarah's grandparents, Terry and Lesley Payne, were among the gathering.

Both sat weeping with their heads bowed when, after a service of hymns, prayers and poems, Robbie Williams' song Angels was performed.

They and the rest of those attending the service finished the evening by throwing white carnations in to the sea as a choir sang Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Terry Payne said: "We have just got to go forward now. It has been a very tough year."

But he said Sarah would have loved the ceremony and would have been up on stage singing if she had the chance.

The event was organised by local people who said it was important to show that children who have been murdered are not forgotten.

Donations made during the evening will be split between the NSPCC and Worthing Hospital children's centre appeal.

Sarah was just 150 yards from her grandparents' home in Kingston Gorse when she disappeared on July 1 last year. Her body was discovered two weeks later off the A27 near Pulborough.

A 42-year-old man has denied the kidnapping and murder of Sarah Payne. He is due to appear before Lewes Crown Court in November.