More than 300 family members and friends attended the funeral of a "lively, free-spirited" girl who was killed in the A23 horror crash.

Gemma Smoker, 17, was one of eight people who died in the accident near Pyecombe on May 16.

Her mother Jackie wept through most of yesterday's service at St Alban's Church in Gossops Green, Crawley.

Tributes from friends, read to the congregation by an aunt, included:

"You always said something positive ... you were never fake and always honest ... you were a giver not only of your time but of yourself ... you were never afraid to step out into the unknown."

An uncle told how he heard of the crash: "On hearing the news and seeing the pictures I thought, 'What a waste of young lives'. It didn't register with me until I received a phone call from my mum. This ripped out the heart of our family."

He said Gemma, who lived with her parents in Henshaw Close, Bewbush, Crawley, was a loyal girl with a wonderful smile.

She was destined for a career in hairdressing, he said, and was looking forward to learning to drive and to her 18th birthday in August when "big things were planned."

He said Gemma's closeness to friends who also died in the crash would continue.

The Reverend Doris Staniford, who conducted the service, said Gemma's death was not the end but a new beginning for her.

Songs played included Always by Bon Jovi and The Rose by Michael Ball.

The service was followed by burial at Snell Hatch cemetery, Crawley.

The funerals were taking place today of two others killed in the crash, Aaron Sharpe, 20, and his sister Katherine, 18, of Gossops Drive, Crawley.

The service was scheduled for 2pm at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Old Horsham Road, Crawley.

All three were in a BMW which crossed into the opposite carriageway and collided with a Land Rover Freelander.

Driving the BMW was Mitch Treliving, 19, who lived in Faygate near Horsham. His funeral will be at Crawley Crematorium this Friday.

The fifth to die in the BMW was Danielle (Billingham) Edwards, 17, who had only recently moved to Crawley. Her family asked for her funeral to remain private.

The funerals also took place yesterday of a man and wife who died in the Freelander.

Postman Toby Beasley, 33, and wife Kate, 29, were buried at the church where they were married five years ago.

More than 200 mourners packed into St Mary's Church in West Malling, Kent, as the coffins arrived bedecked with red and white flowers.

Kate's mother Maggie Lamb said her daughter had grown up in the area and met Toby in Tenerife when he was working as a DJ. They set up home in Godalming, Surrey.

She said Kate, a personal assistant, had been like a "ray of sunshine" and brightened up every room.

"She was the most bubbly girl and we were all proud of her. She brought out the best in everyone."

Kate's sister Zoe Taylor said: "We gave her all the love we could have. There are no regrets."

On the day of the accident, the Beasleys had taken their friend Steven Mohabir, from Godalming, and his two-year-old son Marcus on a day trip to Brighton.

Marcus died in the crash but his father survived.

Mr Mohabir hopes to attend his son's funeral.