FOND farewells were said yesterday to the wife of Lord Lambton by friends, relations and staff on the family's North-East estate home.

Belinda Lambton, better known as Bindy, died aged 81 in a London hospital on February 13.

A larger-than-life character and well-known socialite, a service was held near her London home in Chelsea on Wednesday.

It was attended by her wide circle of friends, including musician Jools Holland, who performed three numbers on piano during the service.

Her coffin was then brought North for a second, service and burial yesterday, at St Barnabas Church, in Burnmoor, next to the Lambton Estate and her family home, Biddick Hall, near Chester-le-Street.

The service was attended by her estranged husband, 80-year-old Lord Lambton, who has lived "in exile" in Italy since he stood down from his junior ministerial position in the Conservative Government following a scandal in May 1973.

Their five daughters and son and heir, Ned, Lord Durham, were joined by other members of the family and the workforce from the Lambton Estate, in the packed parish church.

Addressing mourners, the Reverend Nicholas Chamberlain said: "This was a church where she worshipped, here at the centre of a community in which she was loved and respected."

Eldest daughter Lucinda, a broadcaster and photographer, gave a reading and recited a poem penned in her mother's memory by an admiring "total stranger".

The address was given by Lord Durham, who described his mother's "sheer zest for life". He said it was his mother's express wish to be buried at St Barnabas churchyard, alongside the grave of her father, Life Guards officer Major Douglas Holden Blew-Jones, who died, aged 50, in 1947.

The array of wreaths at the graveside included one from multi-millionaire philanthropist Paul Getty and his wife, Victoria.