Funeral Held For Jetty Tragedy Boy

4 September 2012, 16:12 | Updated: 4 September 2012, 16:18

There were emotional scenes this afternoon as the family and friends of a four-year-old boy who drowned after slipping from a jetty in Somerset arrived for his church funeral.

Dylan Cecil was on holiday visiting his grandparents when he fell into the water at Burnham-on-Sea on Sunday August 19. He was said to have been trying to get a closer look at the sea when the tragedy happened.

The youngster, from Kettering in Northamptonshire, disappeared from view while members of his family were enjoying a day on the coast and parents Rachel McCollum and Darren Cecil tried to save him while emergency services launched a search and rescue operation.

His body was found by a member of the public four days later - less than half a mile away from where he was last seen - at a nearby sailing club.

At St Mary's Church in Kettering hundreds of mourners paid their last respects to the youngster, many wearing blue in honour of Dylan's beloved Kettering Town FC and Sonic the hedgehog.

Mr Cecil was one of the pall-bearers who lifted his son's blue coffin, which also had a picture of Sonic on the side and a football scarf draped over it, out of the white horse-drawn carriage and carried it into church.

Members of Kettering Town FC were also part of the congregation.

As Dylan's mother, Ms McCollum, who was wearing a blue dress, left the church after the hour-long service, she said goodbye to her son and bent to kiss his coffin before it was lifted into the horse-drawn carriage.

Handwritten messages on floral tributes inside the hearse described the sadness felt by Dylan's family at his death, including one saying: ``To the best big brother ever!! Dylan we love and will miss you always. Love Faithy B and Ali bop bop xxx.''

A card on a wreath of flowers including white lilies and red roses from his grandparents said: ``To our special grandson Dylan. You will always be with us. Lots of love, seaside Nanny and Grandad.''