HUNDREDS of mourners are expected to turn out for the funeral of murdered Southampton student Hannah Foster tomorrow.

A video-link system is being installed at Highfield Church, Highfield, to allow as many people as possible to take part in the service.

Already 240 spaces have been reserved in the Highfield Lane church for guests invited by Hannah's parents, Hilary and Trevor Foster. Other mourners will be able to watch the service from the adjacent church centre via a video-link system.

The 11am service will be followed by a private cremation at Southampton Crematorium.

Hannah, 17, will be cremated in an ecologically friendly coffin made of bamboo, specially designed to biodegrade. Flowers will be provided by Fleurs florists in Swaythling, where Hannah did work experience while at school.

As revealed in yesterday's Daily Echo, Hannah's parents have set up a fund in their daughter's memory and hope to use the proceeds to support local charities. The family has asked mourners to make a donation rather than send flowers.

Highfield vicar Graham Archer stressed tomorrow's funeral would be a service of thanksgiving for Hannah's life.

"When you miss someone it is because there is something about them you appreciated and loved, and the theme of thanksgiving will be quite strong," said the Rev Archer.

"One of the readings I have chosen speaks about vengeance and the feeling of anger. In some ways, anger is a strong thing but it can also be quite a destructive thing if there is nowhere for it to go."

The Rev Archer said the local community had pulled together "fantastically well" and hoped their support would help Hannah's family as they struggled to rebuild their lives.

Mourners at tomorrow's service will include pupils from Cantell School in Bassett, where Hannah attended, and Barton Peveril College, Eastleigh, where she had been studying A-levels.

Officers from the murder inquiry, Operation Springfield, will also be attending.

The service will include poetry readings by Hannah's friends and tributes from her teachers.

Hannah, of Grosvenor Road, Portswood, was abducted as she walked home from a night out with friends on March 14. Her body was found two days later in undergrowth in Allington Lane, West End. She had been raped and strangled.

A warrant has now been issued for the arrest of the prime suspect, who flew to India four days after Hannah's disappearance.