HUNDREDS of mourners - many in school uniform - yesterday said farewell to tragic Newport teenager Michael Smith.

Michael, 18, of Mallard Way, Duffryn, died when the car he was travelling in crashed into a billboard on Cardiff Road on September 5.

Michael's friends, Luke Alosery, 16, and Lewis Beaumont, 15, suffered serious injuries in the crash and are still recovering.

Around 500 mourners gathered at St David's Roman Catholic Church, Maesglas, to pay their final respects.

Those waiting inside the church for the family's arrival listened to The Hollies' He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother.

Friends carried the coffin as Michael's family - Maurice and Lesley Smith and his brother, Maurice - filed into the church.

Many wept as a moving poem, written by Michael's friends, was read out during the service.

The poem, read by friend Tara Williams, promised The Duffryn Crew would never forget him.

A large crowd gathered outside to hear the service over loudspeakers. One family friend said: "It is so unbelievably tragic, it's such a waste, he was a lovely boy and his parents thought the world of him. No-one can believe what has happened, it is as if the whole community has stood still in shock."

Another mourner, who asked not to be named, said: "I knew Michael from school and all his friends are here, he was very popular and we will all miss him. It's his family I feel really sorry for, I can't imagine what they are going through right now."

Mourners sang All Things Bright and Beautiful before Father Ambrose Walsh, a visiting priest from the diocese of Cardiff, led them in prayer.

Sister Bernadette Dooley gave a reading from the Book of Wisdom. The congregation, many in tears, sang The Lord Is My Shepherd.

Alan Dack, a lay member of the church, read from the gospel according to St John, and Father Walsh said: "Whenever we face the mystery of death, then we are confronted with the inexplicable pain of loss.

"There are no words that anyone can say to anyone else experiencing that loss that will take away the pain."

A prayer was said for Michael and his family, and members of the congregation came forward to receive communion to strains of Don't Be Afraid For I Have Redeemed You. Father Walsh placed a cross of flowers on the coffin and gave a final farewell reading, while You'll Never Walk Alone was played as the mourners left the church.

A solemn procession followed the hearse to St Woolos Cemetery. The car carrying Michael's parents paused at the Nightfreight depot, where Michael suffered fatal injuries in the crash, before continuing to the cemetery, where over 100 people stood at the graveside.

Father Walsh said to the mourners: "I would ask you to remember wherever there is love, there is God. Our brother, Michael, was taken from us in a tragic accident, but throughout his life there was great love."

Michael was buried alongside his younger brother, Stanley, who died of leukaemia, aged three, in 1989.