Hundreds of people have given entertainer Fred Wedlock the best possible send-off at his funeral.

The service for the singer from Timsbury was full of warmth, jokes and laughter - just like the man himself.

Yesterday's event at a packed St Mary Redcliffe Church in Bristol began and ended with a standing ovation from friends and relatives who had gathered to pay tribute to someone who spent a lifetime entertaining.

Fred’s daughter Lucy surely summed up the feelings of many when she said: “He was put on this Earth to make people laugh. Just because he is no longer here doesn’t mean he can’t continue to do so.”

Fred, who found national fame with his 1981 hit The Oldest Swinger In Town, died earlir this month aged 67 from a heart attack while being treated in Bath’s Royal United Hospital for pneumonia.

The pews in the 12th century church began filling more than an hour before the start of the service and mourners swapped stories of the happy times they spent in Fred’s company.

Canon Neville Boundy conducted the service, saying people were there to give thanks for a “wonderful, gifted, warm man” who was funny off stage as well as on it, and to give support to Fred’s wife Sue and his daughters Lucy and Hannah.

Fred had put his talents to work to raise money for charities, performing at events that raised thousands for the Variety Club. Fellow entertainer and club supporter Eddie Large was among yesterday’s mourners, as was Tommy Banner of The Wurzels.

Lucy, a TV producer, thanked people for the hundreds of cards, flowers, phone calls and emails to the family home in Timsbury.

She paid tribute to her dad in a way she knew he would have wanted, by telling funny stories about him and making people laugh.

She told how when her parents first moved to the country back in the 1970s they heard the dog barking one night and found a “cute furry thing” outside which later got into the kitchen.

Not realising that it was actually a ferret, Fred tried to catch it wearing just a T-shirt and underpants.

It bit his finger and he jumped on a stool to escape it, while calling to his wife for help. Sue grabbed a camera and took a picture.

On another occasion Fred had been given a pot plant as a present, which eventually grew 5ft tall and turned out to be cannabis.

And she ended with one of Fred’s jokes: “Statistically more people die in hospital than in McDonald’s. If you are feeling unwell, go to McDonald’s.”

Canon Boundy said Fred had been cut off in his prime, with so much still to offer.

“I’ve got the feeling he is in heaven, giving music classes for the angels and widening the lyrics.

“The God I believe in has welcomed him.”

Hannah, who followed her father’s footsteps and became a singer, ended the service with her comic version of When You’re Smiling, partly spoken in a Bristol accent.

Wansdyke MP Dan Norris, whose constituency includes Timsbury, had visited the entertainer two weeks before his death.

Fred had staged concerts at the village’s Conygre Hall and wrote a song called Save Our Bus in support of a campaign to win back the 178 service, while also president of the Clutton and Timsbury branch of the St John Ambulance

Mr Norris said: “He had been suffering from pneumonia and appeared to be on the road to recovery. While tired, he was his usual self, explaining that he wasn’t a hypochondriac, no matter what his gynaecologist said!

“This was so very Fred – despite the circumstances, his sharp wit was always there.”