The coffin of Gunner Lee Thornton, draped in the Union Flag and Blackpool Football Club home shirt, was followed into church by hundreds of mourners yesterday.

Carried by six of his regimental comrades, and flanked by his proud parents, Mick and Karen, and his three younger brothers, the 22-year-old made his final journey.
Blackpool-born Gunner Thornton was hit by a single bullet as his patrol came under fire as they left a school in southern Iraq three weeks ago.
He died surrounded by his family on September 7 at a military hospital in Germany.
It was standing room only in St Paul's Church, Marton, as more than 300 friends and relatives gathered for the full military funeral of a serviceman described as "the epitome of the modern British soldier".

More than 20 standard bearers from dozens of Fylde coast military organisations lined Honister Avenue as the funeral cortege made its way from the Thornton family home.
Wreaths lining the hearse read "Lee", "Bro" and "Grandson" while a Seasiders strip, with his nickname "Thorny" emblazoned on the back, were among the many tributes.
Addressing the congregation Major Steve Haines, the commanding officer of Gunner Thornton's 58th Battery, Regiment Royal Artillery, said: "Gunner Thornton was proud to wear the British Army uniform.
"He carried out his duties diligently and was the epitome of the modern British soldier.
"He was killed in a gesture of defiance against the people who perpetrated an attack on two of his good friends just 24 hours before he was killed.
"He was popular, and an excellent soldier, and I'm sure he would have continued to have a successful career in the armed forces."
Gunner Thornton was shot and fatally wounded just a day after his best friend Gunner Stephen Wright, from Leyland, was killed in a roadside bomb attack in the town of Al Dayr, north of Basra.

Gunner Wright's parents attended yesterday's funeral and Gunner Thornton's parents will be at his funeral tomorrow.
A former Palatine High School pupil, Gunner Thornton left a letter for his fiancée Helen O'Pray – only to be opened in the event of his death – in which he told of his undying love for her.
In the letter, he told the 21-year-old student: "Just because I have passed away does not mean I am not with you."
There were tears as James Blunt's ode to a lost loved one, Goodbye My Lover, was played before the procession moved to Carleton Crematorium.
In bright sunshine, bugler Lance Bombardier Neil Bailey sounded the Last Post before a 12-gun salute broke the silence of the mourners.
nick.hyde@blackpoolgazette.co.uk