HUNDREDS of people said goodbye yesterday to Jasmine Allen, 12, who died in a school minibus crash.

Even the weather wore the dress of mourning, the drizzle falling like a shroud as the people gathered to say their final farewells.

This week Jasmine, who was 12 when she died on May 16, would have turned 13.

They came early to bid her farewell, for there is something particularly sombre about the removal of a young and innocent life.

Bikers joined the procession as Jasmine loved to wave at them when they rode past her house and members are raising money in her name to equip Wales' first Children's Hospital.

The Reverend Margaret Jefford, the vicar of St Paul's, Newbridge, said to a packed parish church: "When we talk about a child dying we generally say they had their whole life in front of them, as if everything lay in the future.

"It is a mistake to think that because Jasmine had already touched the lives of so many.

"Yes, Jasmine has died and we do not know why such things happen but we do know she has gone straight into the presence of God.

"Jesus said 'suffer the children to come unto me. Do not stop them, for it is to the little ones the Kingdom of God belongs'."

To a congregation including many of Jasmine's school friends, MP Don Touhig and paramedics who had been at the scene of the crash, Mr Allan Raybould, headmaster of Newbridge Comprehensive said Jasmine had been a model pupil with a wide circle of friends and was the possessor of a natural charm and grace.

"She was a daughter any parent would be proud to call their own and we are proud at Newbridge Comprehensive that she was part of our school. She was a lovely girl who enhanced the lives of all those who knew her."

Mr Touhig gave a reading.

Bikers from both the Grinning Idiots and the Patriot Motorcycle Club, who raise money for charity, escorted the hearse bound for Gwent crematorium. The club has pledged that the money from a charity event they organised will go to the Noah's Ark Appeal in Jasmine's honour.

The simple dignity of the service was reflected in the family's choice of hymns, the tenderest of tributes.

The first was Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam but for many, the second seemed to touch the profoundest feelings of mourners.

'Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, look upon a little child Pity my simplicity, suffer me to come to Thee'

For thus it was as those who knew and loved Jasmine Allen committed her to the care of her Maker.

* Nine other children on the minibus were injured in the crash in Hafodyrynys.

The driver of the minibus was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving after the crash but later released on police bail. A second man was arrested and bailed in connection with the incident.