HUNDREDS of people gathered to say an emotional final farewell to a teenage jockey killed in an horrific blaze which engulfed a North Yorkshire block of flats.

Apprentice rider Jan Wilson died following a suspected arson attack in Norton, near Malton, earlier this month, together with her fellow racing hopeful Jamie Kyne.

Yesterday more than 250 people attended her funeral in her Scottish hometown of Forfar, with a jockey’s helmet being placed on the 19-year-old’s coffin as mourners arrived at Lowson Memorial Parish Church.

At the time of her death in the early hours of September 5, Jan was carving out a promising career in the racing world, having won her first race in April at Ripon racecourse.

Her parents, Margaret and Drew, welcomed friends and mourners at the church, with Mrs Wilson recalling how her daughter’s last racing triumph – her first in Scotland – came less than a month before her death, on August 8.

Some of those attending wore red and black – the racing colours Jan adopted – with a red and black saddle also being placed on the coffin, while a screen at the front of the church showed pictures of her during her life.

The Rev Brian Ramsay, who led the service, said Jan’s birth had brought “love, joy and laughter” and said: “That precious life has ended far, far too soon.

“But today we should not dwell on the tragic end of Jan’s life, but upon what she achieved and all she brought into the lives of those of us who knew and loved her. Although Jan’s life was all too short, it was one marked by achievement, friendship, love and, by all accounts, a great deal of laughter.”

The funeral of Jamie, 18, from Galway in the Republic of Ireland, was held last week at St Leonard and St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Malton.

North Yorkshire Police are continuing to treat the blaze at the flats in Buckrose Court as suspicious and have renewed their appeal for anybody who was in the area at the time it started – about 2.15am – to come forward.