A NORTH-EAST community today (Tuesday, July 14) paid its last respects to a much-loved grandmother who was killed in the Tunisia terror attack.

Lisa Burbidge, 66, of Whickham, Gateshead, was one of 30 British holidaymakers who died in the attack in Sousse on June 26 – an event which “stunned the world”, said the rector taking the service.

The grandmother-of-four was a mother to Melanie and Louise and devoted to her husband, Bill, who died exactly ten years before her.

Mourners filed into St Mary’s the Virgin Church in Whickham at lunchtime today to the sound of tolling of bells as some of Mrs Burbidge’s favourite songs were played, including Simply Red's Holding Back the Years, Ronan Keating's If Tomorrow Never Comes and Tina Turner's Simply the Best.

The service was relayed to people standing on the green outside the packed church. The Rector, The Reverend Barry Abbott, said: "Lisa was beautiful, a woman of dignity and style with a heart of gold whose role was to nurture and care for those around her, always putting others before herself.

"She loved her mum Betty, Melanie and Louise her wonderful girls, and her grandchildren with all her heart - a love that will never end."

He added: “The pain and tragedy of Lisa’s death, along with all who died or were injured in Tunisia, has stunned the world.

“Our cities, towns and communities have felt the shock waves of this crime.

“Here, and the surrounding area has seen a great outpouring of support. A wave of compassion has grown from this shared pain.

"When one of us is hurt we all hurt. Our community, along with all of Gateshead have come together to support Lisa's family and the society we cherish."

During the service her granddaughters paid touching tributes to the trendy and inspirational grandmother who lived for others and in whom they could confide.

Her youngest grandchild Anna, 13, said: "On the 26th of June, on the tenth anniversary of my grandad's passing, my grandma joined him in heaven – not just to be happy but to be together again.

"It is what I know they both wanted because they loved each other so much.

“However, losing that one person who I could talk to about anything and everything and who loved her family more than anything in the world is so heartbreaking.”

Mrs Burbidge was laid to rest alongside her husband at a private burial service.