HUNDREDS of mourners gathered to pay their final respects to East Lancashire authoress Benita Moore, who lost her battle against cancer last week.

The funeral of the woman affectionately known as Mrs Lancashire took place at Stonefold St John's Church, Rising Bridge, on Saturday.

The coffin was taken by horse-drawn hearse which travelled from Accrington along Charter Street, Pickup Street, Moscow Mill Street, Union Road and New Lane.

It then passed The Brown Cow restaurant in Haslingden Old Road before arriving at Mrs Moore's home in Rising Bridge Road, Rising Bridge, where it stopped to allow mourners to walk the short distance to church.

Her husband Gordon held the hands of the couple's two daughters Penny, 29, and Heidi, 24, as they walked behind the hearse. Some mourners wept as the group passed by before following them to church for a noon service.

Mrs Moore, who was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday honours last month, spent her final days being cared for at Blackburn's East Lancashire Hospice.

She touched the hearts of many local folk with her 12 books and volumes of poetry about traditional East Lancashire. The tales of cloth caps and cobbles sold more than 30,000 copies.

A librarian for more than 43 years, Mrs Moore, 59, had a vast knowledge of the area and worked in the local studies department of Accrington Library for many years.

She had undergone two mastectomies in a bid to beat the disease but lost her brave fight when the cancer spread to the rest of her body.

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