Mourners fill church for funeral of 'gorgeous young woman' killed in Telford crash

St Nicholas Church in Newport was filled with mourners this afternoon, who had come dressed in an array of colours, for the funeral of Neve Cotgrave Hewitt. The 12-year-old died in a single-car crash on the A442 near Trench Lock on September 5.

Neve, who was a Year 8 pupil at Burton Borough School, died two days before what would have been her 13th birthday and the date was marked with a balloon launch by family and friends.

A black carriage, pulled by two black horses, arrived at the church at around 1.30pm on Wednesday, carrying Neve – and was followed by her family members in cars.

Neve had three ponies of her own and in a tribute to her daughter, mum Penny said that she doted on them.

The emotional service, which focused on celebrating Neve's life, began with extracts from The Bible, followed by a tribute to the 12-year-old which was read out by Reverend Merry Smith.

The songs, 'Songbird' by Eva Cassidy and 'Forever Young' by Becky Hill, opened and closed the service.

In the tribute, Reverend Smith said: "She was a beautiful baby and was loved from the very first moment. As she grew up she went to Noah's Ark Nursery and then Moorfield Primary."

It was there, Reverend Smith went on, that Neve "developed a love of English" which she carried into secondary school at Burton Borough, where her favourite subjects were English and History.

Those present heard that, as a child, she "loved farm animals and was pushing chickens around in a pram and as she got older she got a quad bike and would ride around."

The tribute continued: "She grew to love putting on fake tan and false eyelashes and she was very happy when she could snuggle up in bed.

"She loved social media and wanted to be an influencer on Youtube, but she also wanted to study Criminology.

"She enjoyed spending time with her large group of friends, even inviting seven around for tea and expecting Penny to find it out of thin air."

Treasured memories of Neve, by her closest friends, were also read out during the service by acting principal of Burton Borough School, Ben Morgan.

They spoke of "how funny she was and how she put a smile on their faces" and how she was "famous for always burning bacon."

A beautiful photo presentation was played for those in the church, depicting images of Neve throughout the years.

Reverend Smith encouraged everyone to remember Neve and to share fond memories with each other and particularly with her friends and family.

She said Neve was "so full of life, with so much still ahead of her."