Dozens of people turned out to pay their respects to a well loved grandad.

William Hart, 69, of Cumberland Drive, Clayton-le-Moors passed away at Royal Blackburn Hospital on Tuesday, August 26 two months after he was involved in a collision with a car on Whalley Road.

A funeral for the former HGV driver was held at All Saints Church in Clayton-le-Moors on Friday, September 5.

Daughter Sherly Hart, 40, said: “Funerals are never nice, but it went really well.

“The vicar did a nice service and gave a nice talk about his life.

“He was played out by Eddie Cochran, ‘C’mon Everybody’ and everyone was clapping and singing once they went outside.

“My dad loved his rock and roll, but we couldn’t quite have great balls of fire playing in a church! It was a real celebration of his life.

“We were all really chuffed by the amount of people that turned up and people were all donating to an Alzheimer’s charity as well.”

William not only fought and beat prostate cancer in his retirement, but was also dealing with the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Sherly said that people travelled from ‘far and wide’ to pay their respects.

She said: “People travelled from all over the place, it was really nice for my mum who got chance to catch up with all my dad’s old friends. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who came and also to our neighbours Julie Jameson, Wilma Curry and her granddaughter Lilly. They made a buffet for the funeral for free and also a special thank you to Michelle and Shaun Andrews.”

Sherly said that the family would soon be welcoming another child to family who will be named in memory of her father.

The accident happened after William attended a charity fundraiser for a family friend who suffers with motor neurone disease at Clayton-le-Moors Conservative Club on Saturday, June 21.

He suffered head and pelvic injuries during the incident.

William, who had been making progress until he was gripped by pneumonia, leaves wife Ann of 46 years, three children, seven grand children and one great grandchild.