Such overwhelming images of public grief have not been seen since the death of Princess Diana five yers ago. Linsay Jennings looks at the public response to the death of two little girls.

THERE have not been scenes like it in Britain since the death of Princess Diana on August 31, 1997, when a sea of flowers cascaded from the gates of Kensington Palace.

The deaths of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman have captured the hearts of a nation. People have arrived at St Andrew's Church in Soham in their droves - elderly couples with grandchildren in tow, distraught parents with ashen-faced children, the same ages as Holly and Jessica.

The churchyard is a patchwork of more than 10,000 floral tributes, cuddly toys and messages of sympathy for the murdered ten-year-olds. Inside the church building there are six books of remembrance already full with messages of condolence.

One tribute says: ''To Holly and Jessica, we write this with extreme sadness that in this world we couldn't protect you.''

A large stone table bearing hundreds of candles lit for the girls has been extended by two benches and a large tray. More than 1,000 flames burn for Jessica and Holly. Almost 100,000 messages have been sent to the official memorial website from across the world.

For anyone who has switched on the television or opened up their newspapers recently, the faces of grief-stricken members of the public will have stared out at them.

But while there is no doubt that the outpouring of grief is a genuine collective emotion, an outpouring of pity for what the parents of Holly and Jessica are going through, there will be some asking who exactly the scenes of public anguish are for?

Is it simply, as Jim Goudie, a senior lecturer in psychology at Northumbria University explains, a way of helping ourselves cope with the unthinkable?

Says Mr Goudie: "Part of it is a genuine sympathy in that people can imagine the same kind of thing happening to members of their own family. But the issues are very complex.

"There is the way in which people get very easily caught up in a kind of mass grieving situation. An extreme example is in overseas countries, when a political leader dies and we see hundreds of thousands of people on the streets weeping their eyes out. It's a kind of mass hysteria.

"Another aspect is that psychologically, people cannot accept that human beings can do something like this to one another. It is known as 'reaction formation' and is part of what is known as the human defence mechanism. "When we hear about something which is so unpleasant, we have to do something to compensate for that unpleasantness. A lot of people are trying to reassure themselves that at the end of the day, human beings are okay."

Outside the church at Soham, two good Samaritans wearing fluorescent bibs patrol the churchyard, discreetly offering support to anyone who looks as if they might appreciate it.

''People sometimes just want to talk and we are here to listen. People are saying how awful it is and people with children of a similar age are really angry," whispers one of the Samaritans. ''We have spoken to a few whose children are going back to the school where Holly and Jessica were, and they are dreading the day.''

The Rev Tim Alban Jones presides over the steady stream of visitors from far and wide, many of them strangers, all of them in a state of distress. The stunned Methodist minister says: ''I continue to be overwhelmed by the number of tributes that people have made. It is staggering to see how many hearts this tragedy has touched. Each of those bouquets tells a story and all are moving.''

The reason for the written tributes and bouquets, according to Mr Goudie, is that people need to feel as if they are "doing their bit".

"It is people trying to make the best out of a bad situation and by doing so, they can feel that their own conscience has been eased a little bit," he says. "There is an element of sympathy for the parents, but part of it is actually crying for themselves. We have to come to terms with it as best we can, which is the point about defence mechanisms."

But among the scenes from Soham being beamed around the world, are the drawn faces of tiny children, laying flowers and struggling to comprehend why the people who are constant and strong for them, their parents, are hugging each other in tear-stained huddles. Should we be allowing our children such an open part in the public's grieving process?

YES," says Mr Goudie. "As long as the situation is explained to young children, that there are lessons to be learned from it, even if it's don't go off with strangers.

"It has got to be handled very, very carefully because what we don't want is to have the children psychologically disturbed, having nightmares and developing phobias. It should be a case of trying to move on to something with a bit more of a positive outlook."

But if the public outpouring of grief is a show of warmth, then at a time of raised emotions, the flip side of that was the anger directed at Maxine Carr as she arrived at court earlier this week. This is a woman who has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, not murder. Hate-filled faces screamed "hang her" as others pelted eggs at the passing police car. The families of Maxine Carr and Ian Huntley are living in fear. Ian Huntley's parents have not been able to return to their work and may never return to their homes again.

Says Mr Goudie: "In some ways that extreme reaction is another kind of defence mechanism. Part of it is because we can't come to terms with it and part of it is because we don't understand exactly what has gone on. If that information did come to light, then we might look at it a bit more objectively. There's a great deal of 'follow my leader,' an element of pack animal and the need to do this kind of thing just to help us move on."

There are also signs that the British stiff upper lip mentality is moving towards a more open culture, perhaps in the footsteps of our American cousins.

Says Mr Goudie: "One of the thing we've seen in the last ten years is this business of laying wreaths or flowers at the roadside where someone has been killed. That would never have happened 20 years ago. But today there is more media coverage and people do start to copy behaviour, so that is the norm. I think it will go on in the future and very possibly will increase. "

As has been seen with Myra Hindley and her attempts at freedom, public emotions may die down, but they can resurface just as quickly.

Says Mr Goudie: "She is still in prison and if she comes out, she will have to be given a new identity. There will be people in society who will, in her case, not let it drop.

"The same could be said with Maxine Carr. If she is found guilty, as long as people have memories, then the slate will never be wiped clean.

"It will be interesting as the days and weeks go by, to see how the public reacts to any new information they might receive."