The mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne sobbed uncontrollably as she visited the roadside shrine of flowers left near the spot where the eight-year-old's body was found.

It was the first time Sara Payne, 31, had wept so openly since her daughter's death and her sobs were audible as she clung to her husband Michael.

The couple, and their children Lee, 13, Luke, 11, and Charlotte, six, were joined by Michael's father Terry and his stepmother Lesley, Sara's sister Fiona, her husband Andrew Crook and their two-year-old daughter.

They left flowers beside the countless other bouquets that now cover an 80-metre stretch of the roadside. Mrs Payne stopped to speak to well-wishers who had gathered, hugging and kissing several.

After the visit, Mr Payne, also 31, said: "Everybody in the nation is on to this and we have got to keep on to this. We can't let things like this happen, not to children."

He added: "It's something we have to do. We have to keep coming back here to be close to where she was."

Sarah's father, grandfather, brother Luke and sister Charlotte all carried flowers to the roadside of the A29 near Pulborough, just metres from where Sarah's naked body was found last week.

Mr and Mrs Payne gathered messages left with the flowers and Charlotte took a huge fluffy toy dog.

A message pinned to the bouquet left by grandfather Terry Payne read: "Not in body but still in spirit. Grandad."

Other flowers had messages from distant relatives, including a message signed "From your two distant cousins Cara and Sarah," which read "Rest In Peace Sarah, sorry we never met."

Mr Payne said he had been surprised by the scale of the response but added: "Sarah was a fantastic child. She should have lived."

Mrs Payne said the whole family found visits to the tributes helpful as they struggled to come to terms with Sarah's death.