Prestonians who are available on Friday morning are being asked to help give a 99-year-old Navy veteran a send off.

The funeral is due to be held at Preston Crematorium of Ron Banks.

His family asked the Royal Naval Association to put an appeal out for people to attend the funeral as it was likely it would be ‘low in number’. More than 60 people ended up attending the funeral.

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In a statement the Royal Naval Association said: “Request for a shipmate who recently crossed the bar.

“Ron Banks, sadly passed away last month, in a nursing home in Preston. He was 99 years old.

“Ron was a Royal Navy veteran, who served during WWII, in the North Atlantic and also the South Pacific. His RN service was quite varied and he experienced many significant events.

“One sad outcome of Ron having had ‘a good innings’ is that his surviving family is now quite small.

“As a result it is likely that the number of attendees at Ron’s funeral will also be low in number.

“If anyone would like to attend his funeral it would be a fitting send off for a RN veteran who risked his life so often, all those years ago.”

The city’s Armed Forces Champion, councillor Mel Close, is among those to have shared the appeal.

And BBC News has spoken to the niece of Mr Banks, Sara Singleton, who had asked for the appeal to be shared far and wide.

The funeral is from 11.15am to 12.15pm on Friday (8 November) at Preston Crematorium at Crematorium Avenue off Longridge Road.

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