'We owe PC killed in crash a debt of gratitude'

Hundreds of police officers lined the street leading to York Minster to pay their respects to an off-duty officer who died after she stopped to help at the scene of a crash.

PC Rosie Prior, 45, stopped to help driver Ryan Welford on the verge of the A19 at Bagby, North Yorkshire, on 11 January when they were both struck by a lorry and killed.

Ahead of Ms Prior's funeral, her colleagues lined the route along Duncombe Place as a piper and police horses led her cortege to the Minster for 11:00 GMT.

In his eulogy, North Yorkshire Chief Constable Tim Forber said Ms Prior had "acted in the finest traditions of the British police service."

During the full ceremonial funeral, Ch Con Forber said Ms Prior "lived by her values, and absolutely delivered the positive impact she desired on the communities she served".

He added: "The city of York and the county of North Yorkshire owe her a debt of gratitude for her service."

• As it happened: Funeral held for police officer

Mr Forber said Ms Prior had "placed the safety of the public before her own safety".

"I address my final words to Rosie. We will continue to protect the communities we serve, and we will do so in your honour, and the honour of those that have fallen before you," he said.

Mr Forber told the congregation that Ms Prior was the tenth North Yorkshire officer to die in the line of duty since the force was formed in 1974.

Earlier, Ms Prior's husband Chris said in a statement: "On behalf of my family and I, I would firstly like to thank North Yorkshire Police and the Police Federation for their amazing support during this horrific time.

"The amount of support we have received from family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues and Rosie's work colleagues proves that even in the darkest of times, the world does have amazing people in it," he said.

He said Ms Prior's sons and family needed "time to rebuild our lives, noting we will have a huge Rosie void in it".

The funeral was followed by a private service at Thirsk crematorium and the family asked people to donate to the Police Children's Charity in her honour.

The charity, which was supported by Ms Prior, provides support to police families through adversity.

Following the crash, the 65-year-old driver of the lorry, from Berwick-upon-Tweed, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and later released under investigation, North Yorkshire Police said.

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