POIGNANCY filled the air as hundreds turned out to pay their last respects to Kidderminster's award-winning hairdresser Umberto Giannini yesterday.

Mourners at the 33-year-old's funeral at St Ambrose RC Church included Shatterford rock legend Robert Plant and Kidderminster Harriers Football Club chairman Lionel Newton.

St Ambrose parish priest Father Douglas Lamb paid tribute to the "goodness" and expertise of the 1999 British Hairdresser of the Year, whose achievements will be celebrated at a memorial service in London next week when film and television celebrities are expected to gather.

Umberto, who learned his trade in London and America and opened his first salon in Kidderminster, boasted a list of clients including Hollywood stars Madonna, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, supermodel Naomi Campbell and television celebrity Ulrika Jonsson.

Father Lamb paid a glowing tribute to the former Hagley RC High School pupil, who went on to open salons in Tettenhall, Hagley, Birmingham, Bromsgrove, Worcester and in Knightsbridge, London.

He told mourners: "However many tributes are paid to him, the best memory of Umberto will be that he went about doing good.

"People loved him for his goodness, gentleness and kindness of his nature, and however untimely Umberto's death, his name will live on in his chain of hairdressing salons and the many products he is associated with.

"Other people in Kidderminster can be proud of Umberto and take inspiration from the difficult journey he made to the very top of his profession with his skill, flair and energy."

Umberto died on January 11, after losing his year-long fight against dermatomyositis, a rare viral disease which causes inflammation of the skin and muscles and affects only one in 200,000 people. He leaves his partner Claire and two sons, aged three and one.

The stylist was also technical director for Schwarzkopf International and a regular on television shows, including GMTV and the BBC's Style Challenge and Clothes Show.