VIDEO BENEATH foreboding grey skies relatives and close friends of Anneli Alderton came together at Ipswich Crematorium today to say farewell her.

BENEATH foreboding grey skies relatives and close friends of Anneli Alderton came together at Ipswich Crematorium today to say farewell her.

A small group of mourners gathered at the crematorium from just before 12.30pm for the 24-year-old's funeral.

Miss Alderton was one of five women killed in Ipswich in December and was the fifth victim to be buried.

The funeral cortège made its way down the crematorium driveway to the waiting group of mourners standing under the chapel's canopy.

Saddened relatives hugged each other and comforted each other as the coffin, which was draped with flowers, was carried from the hearse into the chapel.

Some mourners were obviously overcome by the horrors of what had happened to Miss Alderton as memories of her life flooded back.

At just before 12.40pm the coffin was taken into the chapel closely followed by the mourners.

Church of England Reverend Peter Mann led the tributes to the former Copleston High student whose life had been tinged by tragedy since the death of her father when she was 15.

That led to a spiral into drug addiction and later the dark shadows of prostitution - both evils which Anneli's friends and family had fought to free her from to the end.

Miss Alderton is thought to have been the third victim of the killer or killers preying on the county's women at the end of last year.

Tania Nicol, 19, Gemma Adams, 25, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29, also lost their lives between October 30 and December 12.

Miss Alderton, a former Copleston High School student was pregnant at the time of her death and also leaves behind a child.

Her body was found near Amberfield School in Nacton on Sunday, December 10, she had been strangled.

Miss Alderton had been living in Colchester at the time of her death and was last seen on December 3 taking a train from Harwich, where her mother lived, to Manningtree.

Following the discovery of her body, tributes poured into The Evening Star telling of Miss Alderton's bright and cheeky personality.

Jane Rowe, Miss Alderton's step-sister, said: “She was very bright very intelligent.

“She made you laugh. She was quite cheeky as a teenager. She was a really nice person.”

Miss Alderton attended Clifford Road Primary School and Copleston High School and spent some time living with her mother in Cyprus where she became fluent in Greek.

Do you want to pay tribute to Anneli? Write to: Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail: eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

n. For video footage see www.eveningstar.co.uk