Lilia Valutyte: Mourners gather for the funeral of stabbed nine-year-old schoolgirl in her home town

Tragic Lilia Valutyte was stabbed to death as she played hula hoop with her little sister outside a café in Boston, where her mum was working on July 28. Today (Sep 2) hundreds of people lined the streets to say a final goodbye to the schoolgirl as her coffin was taken to St Botolph's Church by horse and carriage.

Mum Lina Savicke, 35, could be seen wiping tears away from her eyes as she followed the cortege into the church ahead of the service at 11.30am.

Heartbreaking photos show Lilia's little coffin brightly decorated with dozens of 3D butterflies and the horses wearing pink feather headdresses. The funeral procession made its way over Town Bridge, through Market Place, along Church Street before arriving at the church where crowds had left bouquets of flowers.

The service, which included hymns Kumbaya, My Lord and I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say, was followed by a private burial which was only attended by Lilia's family.

Mum Lina last month paid tribute to her daughter and released poignant photos while revealing a statue will also be built in Boston in her honour.

She said: "Lilia was grown in that street, every week she spent down there playing, and it happened next to the window. The memorial is a way for her to still be there, and we're now fundraising to get it.

"There are so many things we could say, but we are not going to talk a lot about who she was and share those stories from our home; they are ours and we want to keep them for us. You find yourself looking for her everywhere. We had four corners and now one is gone."

Lilia's stepdad Aurelijus Savickas, 32, added: "She was cheeky; quiet in one way and then other ways she wasn't. She always tried to make fun."

Deividas Skebas, 22, a Lithuanian fruit picker, was charged with Lilia's murder and remains remanded in prison ahead on his next court appearance.