Mourners on way to Chelsea Hyndman's funeral

More than 50 mourners from the West Midlands today travelled to Yorkshire for the funeral of a holiday worker whose Black Country boyfriend is accused of murdering her.

A "celebration of life" service for Chelsea Hyndman, aged 21, was taking place at 1.30pm at a church in her home town of Castleford. Her boyfriend Luke Walker, aged 22, from Brierley Hill, is in custody in Greece charged with killing her.

Coaches and cars carrying friends of the couple - many of whom have protested Walker's innocence - set off from the Black Horse pub in Delph Road, Brierley Hill, at 10am.

Walker's father Patrick was also attending the funeral at the request of his son. "Everyone travelling up are all friends of the couple - they were Chelsea's friends as well as she visited Luke so often," he said.

Mr Walker said his son, who asked for a heart-shaped wreath of white roses to be placed on Miss Hyndman's coffin, was "heartbroken" not to be able to attend himself.

"It's a huge blow to him — he was desperate to be out in time - but as last week went on and on it was more and more clear it wasn't going to happen," he added.

Meanwhile, as friends and family paid their final respects to Miss Hyndman in Yorkshire, friends of the couple in Malia are planning to meet in one of their favourite bars and raise a toast in her honour.

They will then travel to a quiet section of beach to hold a minute's silence.

Walker is being kept in a "safe zone" at a prison in the Crete capital Heraklion after complaints that he was being bullied by other inmates.

Greek authorities have bent the rules to allow his mother Lindy and older brother Ryan to sit with him in prison as the funeral takes place.

His initial application for bail was denied, but the family is hoping the results of two further post mortems carried out in the UK - which allegedly reveal Miss Hyndman suffered just the one injury rather than many - will mean a second application will be successful.

"We need the coroner to release the reports, and then they need to be officially translated into Greek," Mr Walker said.

"I want to take them back to Greece with me so will have to stay in the UK until then."

Miss Hyndman died in hospital after suffering ruptured internal organs.

Walker was charged with murder by Greek police who allege he beat her to death.

But he claims she was injured when she fell heavily on a beer glass during a girls' night out.