Tributes to Blackpool-born cartoonist Tony Husband ahead of funeral

Tony Husband was "prolific, funny and inventive", Private Eye magazine said

Veteran satirist Tony Husband chronicled human nature with his "empathetic, relatable and funny" cartoons, his family said ahead of his funeral.

The Blackpool-born cartoonist died from a heart attack last month.

Born in 1950, Mr Husband produced cartoons for Private Eye among other publications as well as working on the ITV children's series Round The Bend.

Mr Husband's funeral took place in Ashton-under-Lyne earlier.

His son Paul said his father's cartoons would continue to resonate with people for decades to come.

In an interview prior to the service, he told BBC North West Tonight: "There's no reason why his cartoons will touch people any less in fifty years than they will now.

"It's just human nature, he wrote about human nature."

Mr Husband, who died aged 73, was behind one of Britain's longest running comic strips, The Yobs, in Private Eye.

Tony Husband's last cartoon was shared by his son

"I think my dad was able to do what he did, because he had a certain wit about him that other people just don't," Paul said.

"Without wanting to be extremely pretentious, there was something Shakespearean, he was seeing something in his surroundings that other people didn't.

"But he was able to put that across in a funny and relatable way, that is such a rare thing."

Paul said his father had a "unique style" and in his cartoons he wanted to reflect the "every person".

"He had incredible empathy," he said.

"He became very loved by so many people and that's because he loved them."

Mr Husband's son Paul said his father had "incredible empathy"

Paul said his father's granddaughters were "everything to him" and said that on one occasion he let them graffiti the wall of his office.

"Just after he died they both came up and wrote a final farewell to him, they put 'I love you grandad, thank you'."

Following Mr Husband's death, Private Eye magazine said: "RIP cartoonist Tony Husband - prolific, funny and inventive contributor to Private Eye since 1985."

Author and TV personality Richard Osman said: "So sad to hear of the death of the wonderful cartoonist Tony Husband, a man whose work has made me laugh so many times.

"Humour with such tremendous wit and warmth."