The wife of Sir David Amess has visited the church in Leigh where he was fatally stabbed to death on Friday. 

A tearful Julia Amess was joined by other family and friends at the Belfairs Methodist Church this morning where they were reading the hundreds of tributes left for the Southend West MP. 

Family members comforted one another, with one placing an arm around Julia, and they stayed for around 15 minutes.

Echo:

The minister of Belfairs Methodist Church, Rev Clifford Newman, spoke with Sir David’s widow during the visit. 

The six visitors bowed their heads and formed a semi-circle around the churchman as he gave a short private address.

The police cordon outside the church has been lifted this morning, with only a handful of officers remaining at the scene. 

Echo:

A sea of floral tributes continues to grow outside the building as the police investigation into Sir David's death continues. 

Police are said to be investigating the MP's links to Qatar as part of their probe. 

Sir David's family paid an emotional tribute to the man dubbed Mr Southend yesterday where they called on people to put aside their hatred for MPs and instead show love and kindness. 

They described the father of five as wonderful and inspiring, and thanked the public for its ongoing support. 

Echo:

They added: "The family would like to thank everyone for the wonderful, wonderful tributes paid to David following his cruel and violent death. It truly has brought us so much comfort.

“The support shown by friends, constituents and the general public alike has been so overwhelming. As a family it has given us strength.

“We have realised from tributes paid that there was far, far more to David than even we, those closest to him, knew."

Keep up to date with the latest tributes to Sir David and the police investigation by following our live blog