"Your sparkle will always shine": Family's heartbreaking tribute to 'perfect' Elsie Dot Stancombe as Southport victim laid to rest

A community lined the streets as proud big sister and 'perfect little girl' Elsie Dot Stancombe took her final journey. The seven-year-old was one of the three children killed in the Southport knife attacks on July 29, along with Alice Da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King.

Elsie's funeral took place this morning (August 23) in a service her family wanted to be known as 'Elsie's Special Day'. Streets were decorated with pink ribbons as a horse-drawn carriage arrived at St John's Church, in Birkdale.

Those attending the service heard how 'the light' Elsie brought to her parents' lives 'will never diminish', the Liverpool Echo reports. Her parents - Jenni and David Stancombe - paid tribute to Elsie in a moving eulogy titled Elsie Dot, which was read by Emily Ridgway.

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Jenni and David spoke about the delight they felt when they were going to become parents for the first time with Elsie. They said Elsie was 'far too excited to meet her mummy and daddy' and arrived five weeks early.

The eulogy said: "From the moment she was first placed in your arms, the first time you saw her special name written on the board above the hospital bed, she filled you both with a pride that words simply can't describe. That first night at home, you both sat there wondering 'what on earth do we do now?', 'how are we responsible for this perfect little baby?', all new parents go through the exact same thought process, but Elsie didn't pick up that fear, that worry.

"She fitted into your lives perfectly, she taught you how to be the very best mummy and daddy and she showed you right from the very start that you were a team and were all in it