TEACHERS and schoolfriends have paid tribute to a brave teenager whose fight against cancer inspired so many.

Amanda Gifford died last Saturday night after a three-and-a-half year battle against the illness which forced her to have a leg amputated.

The plucky 18-year-old, from Halliwell, refused to let the illness get her down, even though she suffered incredible pain, which was only partially alleviated by massive doses of morphine.

And she was still joining in with lessons at Rumworth School just a day before she died.

Yesterday, Amanda's friends and teachers took part in a service at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, in Halliwell, while the teenager's family attended her funeral in her home city of Dublin. Amanda, who was in the sixth form at Rumworth, was buried alongside her grandmother, Angela.

The brave teenager had banned mourners from wearing black at her funeral -- insisting instead that they celebrated her life. And her schoolfriends also took the chance to remember Amanda's courage at the Bolton service.

Father Tony Barry, who led the service at St Joseph's, said: "She suffered so much pain, but always overcame it with a smile. She is an example to us all."

Tears were shed as the first hymn, "Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace", was sung. "Over The Rainbow" by singer Eva Cassidy, who also died from cancer, was played at the end of the service.

Bill Bradbury, Amanda's headteacher at Rumworth, lead the school's tributes.

He said: "She suffered illness throughout all her life. But she was always determined, cheerful and very brave."

Amanda had become a popular figure in Halliwell after her family moved over from Dublin five years ago.

She was first diagnosed with a massive malignant tumour in her right leg in January 2000, and surgeons had to amputate it.

She learned to walk again with an artificial leg, but then a tumour was discovered on her lung, which returned and spread despite an operation and intensive chemotherapy.

Teacher Bev Gerrard, who spent a great deal of time with Amanda, said: "She was always making plans for the future, right until the end. She didn't take any nonsense, she always wanted things doing her way.

"She didn't want to rely on her artificial leg, so she used to take it off and hop around everywhere."

The church held a collection for the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in Pendlebury, where Amanda was treated.