Melissa Ede death: 'Colourful' funeral held for Hull lottery winner

Melissa Ede's coffin was carried in a horse-drawn carriage adorned in the rainbow pride flag colours

Mourners have dressed in rainbow colours at the funeral of lottery winner and LGBT campaigner Melissa Ede.

The 58-year-old, who won £4m on a lottery scratch card in 2017, died from a heart attack on the night of 11 May.

Her coffin was carried in a horse-drawn carriage, adorned in the rainbow pride flag colours, to Chanterlands Avenue crematorium in Hull at about 12:30 BST.

Arrangements for the funeral included a colourful dress code to celebrate "her extraordinary life".

Melissa Ede had been a taxi driver and was a transgender LGBT rights campaigner

Mourners were asked to dress "as colourfully as possible - preferably LGBT-style"

The arrangements were part of a celebration of her "extraordinary life"

Her partner, Rachel Nason, had described the transgender LGBT rights campaigner as "clever", "funny" and an inspiration to others.

• More on this and other stories from Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

A post-mortem examination showed the former Hull taxi driver had ischemic heart disease, which led to "a sudden heart attack", Ms Nason has said.

Ms Ede was found slumped in a car outside their home, near Hull, after going out to get cigarettes.

The giant lottery scratchcard and cheque presented to Ms Ede when she scooped the jackpot prize was on show in the crematorium

Before scooping the jackpot, she was known for her TV appearances and posting videos of herself online, attracting thousands of social media followers.