Scores of Gypsies crowd into Otford for funeral - Kent

From the Sevenoaks Chronicle

TRAFFIC in a Otford ground to a halt when more than a hundred Gypsies and Travellers descended to pay their respects to a mum-of-eight.

Priscilla Hilden died suddenly of a bleed on the brain last month.

Her funeral was held in St Bartholomew Church in the village on Monday, with groups of Travellers, including family and friends, holding a procession from Mrs Hilden's home in Hale Lane to the High Street.

Vehicles carried her family in to the church, followed by pick-up trucks loaded with elaborate floral tributes to the 40-year-old.

Otford parish councillors were out in force wearing high-visibility vests to direct traffic and ensure everything ran smoothly.

Chairman John Edwards-Winser said they were preparing for traffic gridlock but, apart from brief confusion when some vehicles missed the church entrance, everything went better than expected.

He said: "Priscilla and her family have been settled in this village for seven or eight years so we were keen to help them. They were members of the parish.

"Everyone was ready for traffic problems here, which is why we've all come out to help. We were ready for something that didn't happen in the end."

There was a heavy police presence in the village during the ceremony.

Shopkeepers paused in their work to come out into the High Street to watch the cortege pass, while Otford Antiques & Collectors Centre displayed signs in its windows in tribute to Mrs Hilden, a regular customer.

Owner Barry Dixey said: "We're going to miss her coming in here. Sometimes Priscilla came in to buy and other times came in to sell bits and pieces. She really enjoyed having a look round.

"She was a real character. It's a loss."

It is understood Mrs Hilden died unexpectedly on August 18.

She had complained of a migraine and was found unresponsive by her children in their home, having sustained a bleed on the brain.

She was rushed to hospital but suffered another bleed and died there.