HUNDREDS of people gathered on Monday to pay tribute to tragic student Vikki Spear, who died after she was in collision with a taxi in Manchester.
Family and friends filled Our Lady and St Hubert's Church, Great Harwood, for the service which was entitled A Celebration of Vikki's Life.
They were greeted with a specially-printed 16-page remembrance booklet filled with pictures of Vikki throughout her life, from a childhood walk with her dad to her school prom and her university friends, as well as readings and song lyrics.
Among the mourners were her former teachers from St Augustine's RC High School, Billington, and St Mary's College, Blackburn, as well as many of her friends from Manchester University.
Vikki, 20, of Grimshaw Street, Great Harwood, died in Hope Hospital, Manchester, after the accident on Wilmslow Road, Fallowfield, earlier this month.
She leaves her parents David and Madeline, sister Sophie and grandparents John Spear and Jean Crossley.
Anthony McNamara, headteacher of St Augustine's, paid tribute to Vikki, describing her as a fun-loving young woman.
He said: "Vikki was happy, intelligent, determined, energetic and competitive. She was also loud, impulsive, dramatic and potty.
"She only lived a short life and she left us so quickly but she has left a hole which will never be filled. She lived life to the full.
"She had many interests including music and chilling out with her friends, and she loved partying. She also enjoyed taking part in productions and loved dressing up.
"She was a vivacious young woman and I am sure she would want people to carry on with their lives and look to the future."
One of Sophie's friends read a piece entitled You Are My Sister which included the words: "You are my twin in so many ways, you are my lightened path through the dark. I will always keep you close, so close to my heart.''
Tributes were also paid by some of her friends from Manchester University, where she was in the second year of a psychology course.
One of them said: "Although she was the smallest of us, she had the biggest heart and the biggest spirit."
Songs played at the service included Boats and Birds by Gregory and the Hawk, She Moves in her Own Way by The Kooks, Say Hello by Deep Dish, Sally Cinnamon by The Stone Roses and Golden Touch by Razorlight.
In keeping with Vikki's fun-loving personality, mourners released purple balloons outside the church after the service, which was followed by cremation at Accrington and a wake at Mytton Fold Farm Hotel.
At the end of the booklet Vikki's parents and Sophie wrote: "We have been touched and comforted by your presence here and by the cards, prayers and acts of kindness by so many of you, for whom memories of our beloved Vikki are treasures we will always share."
