HUNDREDS of people packed into church to pay tribute to 16-year-old Cameron Minshull.

There was standing room only for the funeral at St Thomas and St John’s Church, in Blackburn Street, Radcliffe, yesterday as friends and family said goodbye to the popular teenager.

The former Radcliffe Riverside High School pupil died on January 8 after an industrial accident at the factory where he had started working as an apprentice just weeks earlier.

Among the mourners were 20 of Cameron’s closest friends from the school, where he was a pupil until last summer, as well as headteacher Ian Bott and several other members of staff.

Many people wore traditional black clothes but others wore personal tributes to Cameron, a Manchester United fan.

One teenager wore the club’s shirt with “Cam” and the number 16 on the back while another wore a red hooded top bearing the club’s emblem and a message to Cameron.

A Manchester United flag was draped over the coffin as it was carried into the church to the sound of Ghetto Gospel, by Tupac.

People of all ages packed into the church including many teenagers holding hands or giving hugs to comfort each other.

The service was led by lay minister Irene Thirkell who read a verse called Deep Sobs.

She told the congregation that Cameron, from Bury, was “thought of very highly” by pupils and staff at Radcliffe Riverside and he would do “anything for anyone”.

Mrs Thirkell said he loved being with his friends and family, playing computer games, watching football and going on family holidays.

She said: “He was at his happiest when at home with his family and eating his mum’s tea, spaghetti bolognese being his favourite.

“He just wanted to make his family proud and his family were so very proud of what he was doing with his life.

“Nothing on this earth would ever be able to fill or take his place.”

After the funeral, a private service for family and close friends was held at East Lancashire Crematorium in Radcliffe.

Cameron, who had two sisters and a brother, died in hospital shortly after being injured in a machine accident at Zaffar Engineering UK Ltd, in Huntley Mount Road, Bury.

An investigation is still being carried out by the police and Health and Safety Executive.