Town Bids Farewell To Bee Gee Robin Gibb

Robin Gibb has been laid to rest in a small English churchyard opposite his Oxfordshire home of more than 19 years.

His mother Barbara Gibb, now in her 90s, buried the third of her sons under a rain-filled sky. She was accompanied by Gibb's children and his surviving brother Barry.

Hundreds of fans lined the windswept high street in Thame, Oxfordshire, to pay their respects to the Bee Gees singer and songwriter.

Although the funeral service was private, the family said Gibb had wanted his local friends to be able to say goodbye.

A glass-sided, horse-drawn carriage carried the singer's coffin draped in the flag of his birthplace the Isle of Man.

It was met outside the gates of his 13th century home by a guard of honour formed by air cadets from 594 Thame Squadron, reflecting Gibb's support for the British armed forces.

Led by a solitary piper and followed by Gibb's two Irish wolfhounds, Ollie and Missy, the funeral cortege made its way once round Thame Town Hall.

Singer Peter Andre, DJ Mike Reid, psychic Uri Geller and lyricist Sir Tim Rice were among the friends and family who made up the funeral procession.

Moira Harfield, a fan who had travelled from Winchester to pay her respects, said: "I've been a fan of the Bee Gees for nearly 47 years. They've just always been a part of my life. The music's always been there for me and I absolutely adore all of them.

"I said to my husband last night, 'I just have to be there', so here we are," she added.

Since Gibb died on May 20 from kidney failure after fighting bowel cancer and pneumonia, tributes have poured in from around the world.

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The musician behind much-loved hits like Night Fever and Staying Alive was just 62.

No cameras were allowed into St Mary's Church, where the service took place, but the strains of How Deep is Your Love filled the churchyard as Gibb's coffin was taken into the church.

Two of his children Spencer and Melissa read tributes to their father, as did his brother Barry.

Gibb's wife Dwina read a poem she had written called My Songbird Has Flown.

Her husband was buried close to a small memorial for his youngest brother Andy.

A public memorial service will be held at St Paul's Cathedral in London in September.