The funeral of a four-year-old girl who died after falling from a bedroom window just before Christmas took place in her home village today.

Family and friends of Lindsay Churlish gathered at St Paul's Church in Trimdon Station, County Durham, for an emotional service.

Staff from Deaf Hill Primary School, who described Lyndsey as "a lovely little girl", were among the congregation and floral tributes and sympathy messages adorned the funeral cortege.

Vicar of Trimdon Canon Alex Whitehead and Reverend Isabel Stuart conducted the service, which was followed by interment at Deaf Hill cemetery.

Lyndsey died after falling 20ft from a bedroom window at the back of her home in Wood View, Trimdon Station on the evening of Tuesday, December 18, the day before her mother's 30th birthday.

She had been playing in the room with her brother, sister and a friend, while her mother Suzanne was chatting to a neighbour downstairs.

The toddler fell onto hard concrete in the back garden and was rushed to the University Hospital of Hartlepool, but doctors were unable to help her. The cause of death was later confirmed as a fractured skull.