SCORES of mourners packed a Darlington church yesterday for the funeral of a popular referee and father-of-two.

So many people attended the service for Paul Adamson, 43, who died during a football match last week, that some had to stand outside St Mark's Church, in North Road.

Pallbearers carried Mr Adamson's coffin into the church, led by Pipe Major Barry Waldren, who played the bagpipes.

The mourners included Mr Adamson's widow Anne, the couple's daughter Kimberley and son Craig.

Mr Adamson, of Statham Place, affectionately known as Adda, collapsed during the final of the Durham County Referees' annual competition in Carrville, near Durham, on Wednesday, November 12.

He was a referee in The Northern Echo Sunday Invitation League and a former employee of The Northern Echo.