A FORMER Hampshire policeman who died in the Shoreham air disaster has made his final journey - to the church where he delivered brides on their wedding day.

The coffin of car enthusiast and chauffeur Maurice Abrahams, 76, was brought to his funeral at St Margaret's Church in Rottingdean, East Sussex, in a Rolls-Royce Silver Spur.

It was the same church that Mr Abrahams had driven brides to countless times on their wedding days in his beloved Daimler.

Vicar Martin Morgan said good-humoured Mr Abrahams often played ''quite interesting'' music on those poignant journeys, including Another One Bites The Dust and I Want To Break Free.

Mr Morgan said that former policeman Mr Abrahams was a ''unique'', ''extraordinary'' and ''special'' man who always dressed immaculately.

He told mourners: ''Thinking about him in the midst of all the horror that happened and the tragedy that happened, one of the words that keeps coming to my mind is 'service'.

''He gave service to his nation in various ways - as a guardsman, as a paratrooper and as a policeman. I suspect he thought ladies liked uniform.''

Mr Abrahams was among 11 victims who died during the Shoreham Airshow on August 22 when a Hawker Hunter jet crashed on to the A27.

During a lifetime spent helping others, Mr Morgan recalled Mr Abrahams's last act of kindness - preventing a family from being caught up in the disaster.

He said: ''The last act that he did on this earth was for other people. We know that he allowed another car in - he made a space for them - and that family lived.

''They are grateful to him.''

Among the dozens of flowers brought to the church was one from the family he inadvertently saved, with a card with the simple message: ''To the family of Maurice Abrahams. In memory.''

Comrades from the Parachute Regiment formed a guard of honour as his coffin arrived at church to The Ride Of The Valkyries. Old members of the Grenadier Guards were also present.

Mr Morgan recalled Mr Abrahams's keen sense of humour in front of a packed church, including wife Edwina, son Eddie and daughter Lizzie.

Before the Last Post sounded ahead of a private committal, friend David Spalding said he was a devoted family man who gave his wife flowers every Saturday and ''made friends at the drop of a hat''.

Mr Abrahams was en route to collect a bride for her wedding at the time.

A former member of the Grenadier Guards and Parachute Regiment, Mr Abrahams had served in Cyprus and Bahrain with the UN.

In his later years, he enjoyed work chauffeuring his beloved Daimler car for East Sussex-based Chariots Chauffeurs as well as gardening.

An interim report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) found ''no abnormal indications'' during the Hawker Hunter flight.

Investigators also noted that cockpit cameras showed the 1950s jet ''appeared to be responding to the pilot's control inputs''.

The other victims who died were retired engineer James Graham Mallinson, 72, from Newick, near Lewes; window cleaner and general builder Mark Trussler, 54, from Worthing; cycling friends Dylan Archer, 42, from Brighton, and Richard Smith, 26, from Hove; NHS manager Tony Brightwell, 53, from Hove; grandfather Mark Reeves, 53, from Seaford; Worthing United footballers Matthew Grimstone and Jacob Schilt, both 23; personal trainer Matt Jones, 24; and Daniele Polito, 23, from Worthing.

The inquest into their deaths was opened and adjourned last week by West Sussex senior coroner Penelope Schofield. A pre-inquest review will take place on March 22.