DOZENS of East Lancashire police officers joined mourners at a service of remembrance for PC Cate Sutcliffe, who died after suffering a brain aneurysm while on duty.

Around 400 mourners filled Waddington's St Helen's Church yesterday to listen to moving testimonies from friends and colleagues.

PC Sutcliffe, 34, collapsed during a 'non-confrontational' incident while on duty in Whalley on Sunday, August 8.

Inspector Bob Ford, in charge of policing in the Ribble Valley, told the congregation that Cate was a "good police officer, pretty, feisty and determined".

He added: "What you saw, and particularly what you heard, was what you got with Cate.

"In a way I don't want to say too much -- she would say I was missing valuable drinking time! But that was Cate, she was always in the action."

Insp Ford recalled an incident which, he said, summed up Cate. He said: "I remember she was first on the scene when a light aircraft came down in woods near Darwen.

"One man was injured lying up in the branches and she was trying to clear the area of onlookers. One man refused to leave, and after asking him repeatedly to go, she was about to arrest him.

"He finally managed to convince Cate that he was actually the pilot and it was his friend that was stuck up the tree."

Cate's friend, Joanne Greenwood, also paid tribute. She told the congregation: "She was without doubt one of the funniest, most entertaining, and uplifting people you could ever meet.

"She was never afraid to laugh at herself, was always the hub of the party, and she lit up any room she walked into."

Chief Superintendent David Mallaby, Divisional Commander of Eastern Division, joined dozens of police officers, local councillors and Ribble Valley Council chief executive David Morris, in paying their respects.

PC Sutcliffe served at Blackburn and Great Harwood police stations after joining the force in 1991, before moving to Clitheroe and Whalley six years ago.

She lived in Waddington and had a long-term boyfriend Jonathan Grace.

Her parents, Clitheroe Town Council and Ribble Valley borough councillors Stephen and Margaret Sutcliffe, had hoped Cate would recover following her collapse. But her condition worsened, and she lapsed into a coma, never to regain consciousness.