HUNDREDS packed into the church of St John the Baptist and St Helen in Wroughton to pay their last respects to former Swindon Mayor Harry Garrett.

There was standing room only in the ancient parish church as councillors and Swindon mayors joined the many family members, friends and neighbours.

Canon Michael Johnson said the large congregation yesterday was a tribute to the great commitment Mr Garrett had shown to the community throughout his 90-year-life.

He said: "When I first came to Wroughton I noticed Harry Garrett Court and wondered who was this Harry Garrett, I thought it must be someone who was long gone.

"When I discovered it had been named after someone in the course of his own lifetime I realised there must be something very special about him."

The sheltered flats which bear Harry Garrett's name were built as a result of his own hard-fought campaign.

Born in Winterbourne Bassett, he later moved to Berwick Bassett where he went to school.

After school he worked at a coal merchants in the Stratton area of Swindon.

He married Ellen in 1933 and they moved to Wroughton where they would remain.

A life-long supporter of the Labour Party, Mr Garrett founded the party's Wroughton branch in 1946. He was also an active trade unionist and former president of Wroughton Working Men's Club.

Mr Garrett served for 37 years on Wroughton Parish Council and in the mid-1980s served a year as mayor of Swindon after 10 years as a Labour member of Thames-down Borough Council.

Canon Johnson said: "He was a man who lived life to the full the contribution that he made to the community, to friends and colleagues, to fellow councillors and to his family and friends should be remembered."

The final hymn, "We Plough the Fields", was particularly apt given Mr Garrett's life-long love of gardening.

He is survived by his wife, two daughters, three sons, nine grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.