A community turned out in force yesterday (Fri) to pay its respects to a much-loved friend, local bobby Pc Pete Butler.

The popular community beat officer - who died suddenly last week aged 52 - was honoured by his family, friends, and senior colleagues at the packed parish church of SS Peter and Paul, Wantage, in a moving service of thanksgiving for his life.

The normally busy Friday came to a standstill as hundreds lined the Market Place, many bare-headed in the keen wind and persistent drizzle, to watch his cortege pass by the statue of King Alfred, where many floral tributes have been laid in recent days.

Wantage Mayor Terry Fraser and fellow councillors, town clerk Athene Mitchell and Colin Wilkins, president of the Chamber of Commerce, bowed their heads beneath the flag of St George, which fluttered at half-mast under grey and dismal skies. The collective grief at the tragic loss of "our Pete", as he was known to shoppers and traders alike, was almost palpable in the silence which descended on the town centre, and in the tears of ordinary citizens, both young and old.

The funeral procession which had left his home at Charlton, was led by a pair of mounted police officers and motorcycle outriders, and his coffin was flanked by members of his shift and fellow community constables.

Sector commander, Insp Paul Kirkland, walked ahead, accompanied by the Vicar of Wantage, Fr John Salter, and followed by Chief Supt Michael Page, head of the newly-formed Southern Oxfordshire police area. After pausing briefly in Church Street, outside the police station where Pc Butler had served for 12 years, the cortege moved on to the church, into which his coffin was borne on the shoulders of his devoted shift colleagues, Sgt Bob Maskell, and Pc's Mark Haynes, Nick Cain and Nigel Eighteen (OK).

Charles Pollard, the chief constable of Thames Valley police, headed a sizeable police presence among a congregation numbering almost 450 people, and his deputy, Robert Davies, gave a reading from the Book of Wisdom. Pc Butler's widow, Brenda, led the family mourners, and their daughter, Dawn, and son, Darren, both joined in tributes to a dearly loved father and friend.

Ch Supt Page related how he had recently gone on foot patrol around the town with Pc Butler and had been astonished by the "endless stream of people from all walks of life" who had come up to talk to him - all of them addressing him as "Pete".

"I was tired but inspired by his enthusiasm, his warmth, his personality and his commitment," he said. "Peter embodied everything that professional police officers aspire to. "Whichever beat you are patrolling now, I hope I am among the residents when my time comes, because as they say, 'the beat goes on'."

The service ended with the haunting refrain of Buddy Holly's True Love Ways before Pc Butler's flower-bedecked coffin was taken for committal at Oxford Crematorium.

Story date: Saturday 24 April

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.