FRIENDS, family and wellwishers turned out to remember the life of a former police officer who worked in Ramsbottom and Tottington.

Ernest Lomas died in Blackpool earlier this month at the aged of 86, where he was being treated for kidney disease, but later contracted pneumonia.

A number of standard bearers lined the path as the hearse arrived at Radcliffe Crematorium for the service on Friday, and included representatives from the Greater Manchester Police Association, the Tottington Veterans Association and the Royal British Legion.

Mr Lomas's son, Bill, who lives in Gloucestershire, said the service was well attended and that many people who knew him from his time on the beat came to pay tribute.

Mr Lomas, who was raised in Radcliffe, originally joined the police in 1952 and later retired in 1977, spending most of his time at Tottington police station.

He previously served in the Corps of Military Police from 1946 to 1948, seeing action in Palestine and Italy.

His wife Joan died at the age of 86 in August, and he then moved from their home in Woolfold to live in Blackpool with his other son, John.