HUNDREDS turned out to mourn the passing of three inseparable Furness entrepreneurs whose lives were cut short in a holiday plane crash.

Colony Candles founders Alan Williams, his ex-wife, Sue, and sister-in-law, Jill, were each laid to rest some six weeks after their small plane plummeted into remote jungle on safari in Tanzania.

On Friday, 150 people packed into the Thorncliffe Crematorium at Barrow to remember the Williams sisters.

"One of the most misused words is the word tragedy," said the Rev Gary Wemyss. "It is so often used for minor occurrences. In Africa, we heard of a true tragedy as it can be called when no other word will truly do."

He urged everyone to remember the sisters' mother, Gladys, in their prayers but also to think of happy times shared with Sue and Jill, "perhaps with a glass of champagne in their hands," he prompted.

The sisters "were inseparable", he said, adding: "They worked together they travelled and adventured together and finally they died together and so we pray that they are at peace together."

Many leading figures from South Lakeland's business community turned out for the cremation on Friday and for Alan Williams' funeral on Monday.

Mr Williams dubbed the Richard Branson of Furness' - was buried at St Luke's Church, at Lowick, near the entrepreneur's home at Blawith.

Another 150 mourners filed into the service led again by the Rev Wemyss, who reflected on the 59-year-old - a safari enthusiast who had travelled to Tanzania to see a particular type of chimpanzee - who died doing what he loved most.

There were also personal tributes from family friend and former Colony manager Louise Tych, of Cartmel, who described Mr Williams as "simply the best" and a man "who excelled in all he did".

John Calder, of Somerset, described his friend as possessed with "charm, strength and unforgettable charisma" who "lived life as an adventurer."

Surrounded by floral tributes, including a candle-shaped wreath, Mr Williams was finally laid to rest after mourners filed outside to the Eva Cassidy song Fields of Gold.

Mr Wemyss concluded: "A great chasm has been opened in many of your lives as so many friends were taken from this earthly life together a gap that is in some ways impossible to fill."

l The body of Mr Williams's girlfriend, Debbie Winn, who also died in the crash, has yet to be formally identified.

l ABOVE: The Rev Gary Wemyss leads the funeral cortege for the late Alan Williams, founder and former managing director of Colony Candles, Lindal. (D5L069GG10)