BROOKIE STARS' TRIBUTE TO JULIA.

Soap stars joined family and friends of Brookside's Gladys Ambrose yesterday to say goodbye to Britain's best- loved busybody.

Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of the actress, who played the show's Julia Brogan for 13 years.

Brookside producer Phil Redmond and actor John Burgess, who plays David Crosbie, spoke movingly about the 67- year-old star at the service.

Redmond told mourners: "There is no doubt that old Gladys had a spirit that was very difficult to beat.

"It's great to share her last bill. It's standing room only and not a dry eye in the house."

During the service at St Mary's Church, Knowsley Village, Liverpool, Burgess added: "Gladys had a refinement and an elegance. It's strange to think that person could portray this gritty down-to-earth scouse lady."

He referred to Gladys as a "grand dame", who fought to the end against cancer.

He said: "Gladys was a battler. There wasn't any real tranquil acceptance. She was angry and had every right to be."

The Rev Graham Amey told the congregation Gladys had been born in Everton, Liverpool, and that her passion for performing had driven her to the stage and screen.

As a child, she financed her own singing lessons by picking potatoes, and as a young woman she met her husband Johnny - an acrobat - in 1954.

The couple performed on the highwire and trapeze and then formed a comedy duo.

Gladys, who leaves two daughters and four grandchildren, lost her husband two years ago.

After the service, actors Sam Kane, who plays Peter Phelan, and Louis Emerick, who plays Mick Johnson, helped carry the coffin before the body was taken to St Helen's Crematorium.