A friend of tragic pop star turned shoplifter Doreen Waddell joined the singer in her last performance.

Annie Ingham, 27, who lives doors away from Ms Waddell's flat in Clarendon Villas, Hove, said she joked with the former singer of chart-topping band Soul II Soul just weeks before her death on Friday.

She took to the stage with Doreen during a gospel event at Mosaic, a Brighton and Hove playgroup.

She said: "Doreen was a great friend, it still hasn't sunk in that she is dead.

"The last thing I can remember is her big smile and her happy face. She loved singing and her voice sounded wonderful on that night."

Ms Waddell, 36, who had a four-year-old son, died after she was struck by three cars on the A27 as she fled the Tesco store in Holmbush, Shoreham, after being suspected of shoplifting.

Ms Waddell sang lead vocals on Soul II Soul's Club Classics Volume 1 album, on which she featured under the stage name Do'reen on the hit song Feel Free.

She also sang on the major hits Back To Life and Keep On Movin' and after leaving the band joined dance outfit the KLF.

Ms Ingham, a mother-of-three, met the former singer two years ago.