It was standing room only as hundreds of people packed an Oxford church to say farewell to "the best landlord ever."

Many mourners agreed that if Noel Reilly, the former landlord of Oxford pubs Jude the Obscure, in Walton Street, the Bullingdon Arms, in Cowley Road, and latterly The Far From The Madding Crowd, in Friar's Entry, is in heaven, it would be just like one of his pubs.

Today people gathered from across the country and Mr Reilly's native Ireland to squeeze into St Aloysius RC Church in Woodstock Road.

Close friend Douglas Major, 58, said: "I knew Noel very well, both as a friend and as a person that received help from him over the years.

"A lot is said about him being a big character, but people rarely talk about all the help he gave to people, both with his time and financially.

"There are many students who went on to get good degrees and jobs on the back of Reilly bursaries. He always put others before himself."

Russell Martin, 61, who used to live with Mr Reilly at the Jude the Obscure, said he would be greatly missed by everyone.

He added: "His pubs were always full because of the atmosphere that Noel would create in them. He was the sort of person that once you met him, you never forgot him.

"When he took over at the Jude it was the Prince of Wales and had become a really run-down pub.

"But he brought in his Irish culture and transformed it and it became a hub for the local community. He was the best landlord ever."

Barry Reegan, 50, who was a regular at the Jude, said: "He was a great guy and the fact so many people paid their respects at his funeral just shows how much we all thought of him."

There were many tears shed during the service, but just as many laughs as people remembered Mr Reilly's charismatic personality.

Mr Reilly passed away on September 5, in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, from pneumonia, aged 62.

Conducting Mr Reilly's funeral, Father Timothy Gardner joked: "If Jesus could ever say to anyone 'I was thirsty and you gave me drink', he could surely say it about Noel."

Mr Reilly also ran the popular Beehive pub in Swindon, where in 1988 he invited the philosopher and Czech dissident Dr Julius Tomin to give lectures, attracting the interest of the world's media.

His son James gave a moving speech about his father as he thanked everyone for attending the funeral. He said: "For every story that I have, I'm sure that everyone of you has five more that are even better. My father fitted more into his 62 years than many of us would fit into 620."