Service held for homeless woman who died on the streets of London

A service has been held in south west London for a homeless woman who died whilst living on the streets

Lidia was in her 60's and spent much of her life in Camden, but was found unresponsive in Islip street at the start of the year.

Today almost 100 people turned out to remember her at St Michael's Church.

Esther Oghenekaro used to pay Lidia to clean for her.

"Every single one of us makes a difference and Lidia made a difference in all sorts of ways, just her smile, her character and as Father Michael said her very presence was part of the community. I was proud of the community for turning up today , they turned up and it was beautiful."

Frankie Lister-Fell helped organise the service.

"It was really touching, lots of people turned out and we had tributes from people who knew her."

"It was amazing to have this space to pay tribute to someone who died on the streets who otherwise would not get a formal funeral."

"I heard from one person she had been around Camden for 20 years and she obviously lived in an impressive structure of polystyrene and plastic and that stuck out to people and she was just nice you know."

Jamie Klingler has known Lidia over the last 20 years.

"It's horrific that we didn't do more and she wasn't taken care of."

"We've got to be able to be part of the community - I was so thrilled to see St Michael's full and the people in the community coming out to say goodbye."

"I've lived in Camden for 20 years and my friend spoke of Lidia, we do need to look out for each other, especially when it's this cold, anything we can do."

With temperatures below freezing across London overnight, the severe weather protocol has been activated, which ensure additional accommodation is made available to homeless people.

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