MOURNERS watched the funeral of a popular catholic priest via CCTV in a school hall because so many people turned up.

More than 350 people paid their respects to Father Hugh Bridge, parish priest of St Francis de Sales church, Church Road, Hartley, who died on January 22.

Father Bridge died suddenly of a heart attack, aged 58, after he was admitted to Darent Valley Hospital suffering from breathing difficulties.

News of his death spread so fast around the village that more than 200 people packed out the church to attend a mass about 12 hours later.

Parishioners, anticipating demand to attend the funeral, linked the church's security cameras to a large projector several hundred yards away in a school hall.

Around 150 people watched the service transmitted live from the church on Tuesday morning.

Afterwards the mourners followed the hearse a mile through the village to All Saints Church, where Father Bridge was buried.

Parishioner Phil Kerton said: "350 people walked from the village and back, it was quite a sight.

"It was a lovely service and it was very satisying in the sense it worked, the car parking worked and the CCTV worked.

"He was an eccentric character within the priesthood, we did him justice we thought."

Father Bridge was born in Orpington in 1948 and educated at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School and Oriel College, Oxford University.

He was ordained as a priest in 1977.

Father Bridge, who was fluent in Russian, directed Cathedral Employment Enterprises, an organisation which helped people find training and employment.

A statement from the Archdiocese of Southwark said: "He will be sadly missed both in parishes he served and further afield.

"May he rest in peace."

The service was led by Bishop John Hine, area bishop for the Kent Diocese.