A BUSTLING East Yorkshire market town was stilled in memory of three young lives tragically cut short by fire.

Almost 100 mourners gathered at All Saints' Church, in Pocklington, for the funeral of 17-month-old Bethany Appleton, and her sisters, Joanne, three, and Samantha, six.

All three died when fire ripped through their home in Goole earlier this month.

Their 26-year-old mother, Louise, who used to live at Full Sutton, near Pocklington, managed to escape the blaze.

Traffic stopped and residents lined the street in sympathy as the three-hearse funeral procession approached the church, led by a lone top-hatted attendant.

Pocklington fell silent as Bethany's tiny white coffin was lifted from the first hearse by a single pallbearer, followed by the coffins of her two sisters.

As the pallbearers prepared to walk into church, the silence was broken by the poignant laughter of a little girl whose mother was among the mourning bystanders.

Inside the church, the Reverend Chris Simmons, Vicar of Pocklington, paid tribute to the bravery shown by the girls' family since that fateful night.

Mr Simmons said: "Despite the depth of their grief they are showing enormous courage in a way that I find quite remarkable and inspiring. As a family, they are drawing strength from one another, and so giving strength to each other."

"I know that they are also feeling supported by the many messages of sympathy that have reached them, including those from the community in Goole, but also from total strangers who just want to offer a word of love and support to a family in distress.

"From what they have said to me, I know that they feel deeply grateful for all the care that everyone has shown them at every stage of what can only be called a terrible ordeal. They will continue to need that love and care for a long time to come - please don't forget to pray for them."

The girls' cousin, James Appleton, had asked for hymns Praise Him Praise Him and Kum-bah-yah, which Joanne and Samantha had been learning at school, to be sung.

Eric Clapton's Tears In Heaven ended the service. It was written by Clapton after the death of his four-year-old son.

Beautiful floral tributes were on show, including one from Great Grandma Mary that carried three silver angels with one of the girl's names beneath each.

Another, sent by Goole Town Council and the Goole community, had a floral teddy bear representing each girl. The bears were playing in a garden of roses with ribbons reading "At play in God's garden."

The mayor of Goole, Pat O'Neil, was among the mourners.

Humberside Fire Brigade was represented by Goole Fire Station commander Dave Paton and station officer Nick Granger.

Firefighters suffered burns as they battled temperatures of 1,200 centigrade in an attempt to save the girls.

The funeral was followed by a private interment in the children's section of Pocklington Cemetery.

Updated: 11:17 Friday, November 28, 2003