Haulier John's final lorry journey

Hundreds of mourners turned out to say farewell to a Black Country haulier as he was taken on his final journey by lorry.

Friends and family of John Yapp, who died aged 65 from bowel cancer, gathered for his funeral at Gornal Wood Crematorium. The coffin was carried on the back of a 1955 Leyland Comet, along with flowers and wreaths.

Mr Yapp's brother Steve, 49 today, said:"The lorry looks fantastic. I know John would have loved to have driven it himself. All of his good friends and family are here."

Haulage boss Ray Hingley, aged 59, of Hingleys, in Brierley Hill, loaned the truck for the service..

"John was a popular man, which shows with the amount of people who have turned up today,"Mr Hingley said.

John Yapp was known as a "tough guy" but died after losing his fight against cancer.

Mr Yapp, also known as Johnny Lotus because he always drove an old Lotus, spent his life in the haulage industry working as a motor mechanic for LP Transport, Tividale, Fosters of Dudley and G Cox Oldbury Ltd.

Boss John Cox, aged 72, who knew Mr Yapp since he was 14, said: "He was a first class worker. His lorries were always immaculate and he would clean the other trucks if they were dirty. John was a brilliant chap and we used to go round the country following speedway and watched the old Cradley Heathens."

Steve Yapp said due to family circumstances he only found out John was his brother five years ago after spending all his life believing they were cousins.

Mr Yapp, of Dudley Road East, Tividale, who never married, died at Mary Stevens Hospice in Stourbridge on April 9.

He was featured in the Express & Star in 2000 pictured with his hanging baskets which passers-by stopped to admire. His brother said he always had fresh flowers in the window.