'Much-loved' postman gets Royal Mail send off

Colleagues say the father-of-three was a much-loved member of the team

A fleet of Royal Mail trucks and vans joined a funeral cortege in honour of a colleague after his death from cancer.

Andrew Farnsworth, 56, who worked for the postal service for more than 40 years, had recently retired from its Stockport office after receiving a terminal diagnosis.

The red liveried vehicles stopped traffic as they made their way from Mr Farnsworth's father's house to the crematorium in Edgeley.

Paying tribute to the father-of-three, who lived in Wirral with his partner Caroline, colleague Anne-Marie Pollard-Vearnals said he had "brought us all together and helped us bond and socialise outside of work".

The cortege passes through Stockport

Ms Pollard-Vearnals added: "At work, Andrew - or Farni as all his friends knew him -would organise race trips and Christmas dos to bring everyone together."

She described him as "well-loved at work", and said up to 400 people attended the service for him at the crematorium.

The Royal Mail fleet cortege was organised at the request of his partner Carloline, Ms Pollard-Vearnals added.