Funeral held for BBC presenter Dianne Oxberry

Dianne Oxberry was BBC North West Tonight's weather presenter for more than 20 years

Family and friends have gathered for the funeral of the "extraordinary" and "genuinely lovely" BBC presenter Dianne Oxberry.

The former Radio 1 host died from ovarian cancer aged 51 at the Christie Hospital in Manchester in January.

A private service was held earlier in Sale, Greater Manchester.

The presenter's death prompted an outpouring of tributes, while a fund set up by Oxberry's husband Ian Hindle raised more than £30,000 in a week.

Oxberry rose to fame when she presented the weather and travel on BBC Radio 1 in the early 1990s, working with broadcasters Simon Mayo and Steve Wright.

She met her husband, who works as a camera operator, while co-hosting Saturday morning children's show The 8.15 from Manchester.

She then presented the weather for BBC North West Tonight from 1995 until December.

BBC North West Tonight presenters Annabel Tiffin and Roger Johnson attended the funeral.

Tiffin said: "It's surreal that we're here, really. It's just too sad to put into words. We're going to be thinking of her and thinking of Ian and the children.

"So many people loved Dianne - on and off the screen. We want to remember her for that reason and all the joy she brought to an awful lot of people."

Johnson said: "She was a genuinely lovely person. She was as lovely in real life as she appeared on TV.

"It's always sad when anyone dies but it's really sad when someone dies young and someone who is such a special person. It's terribly, terribly sad."

BBC Radio Manchester presenter Eammon O'Neal, who co-hosted the station's breakfast show with Oxberry between 2006 and 2008, said the shock of her death was "tremendous".

"Now today it kind of brings it home that we'll never in real life see her face or hear her voice although her memory will live on," he said.

He added: "One of the great things I'll take forward is just how extraordinarily ordinary Dianne was - and I think the viewers and the listeners, who never even met her, are feeling perhaps as sad as we are.

"One of the words I always used about Dianne was authentic. She was a real person.

"She had a great job and was great at it but she never fell into the showbiz trap. She remained authentic and true."