COLLIERY banners flanked the coffin of the miners' leader who valiantly led Durham pitmen through their darkest hours, at an emotional funeral service yesterday.

The presence among the many mourners of National Union of Mineworkers' (NUM) president Arthur Scargill marked the esteem in which 86-year-old Tom Callan had been held.

The Requiem Mass for Mr Callan - general secretary of the Durham NUM between 1979 and 1985 - was held at St Godric's RC Church, in Durham City.

Mr Callan, who leaves a widow Kitty, three daughters and five grandchildren, began work in the pits at Mainsforth Colliery in Ferryhill, County Durham, when he was 15.

He later moved to Vane Tempest Colliery, at Seaham, where he became compensation secretary. And it was the Vane Tempest Colliery Banner that hung in the church yesterday, along with the Durham NUM banner.

Mr Callan became area NUM treasurer in 1970 and was elected general secretary in December 1978, taking up the post a month later.

His funeral service was conducted by Father Colm Hayden who spoke of Mr Callan's devotion to his faith and towering sense of community.

Renowned for resisting pit closures, he stood tall as he led Durham coalfield workers through the bitter strike of 1984 to 1985.

David Hopper, who succeeded Mr Callan as general secretary of the Durham NUM, gave the eulogy at the service, describing Mr Callan as a highly-respected, modest and unassuming man who showed outstanding stewardship during the miners' strike.

"It was his finest hour,'' he said.

He added: "I learned a lot from this tremendous man and it has been a privilege to have known him.''

Also taking part in the service were Mr Callan's grandchildren Maura McKeon, Clare Phipps and Daniel Phipps - and sons-in-law Michael Phipps and Paul Young. Chief mourners included his daughters, Elizabeth Phipps, Catherine McKeon and husband Brendan and Marie-Bernadette Young, and his brothers John, 81, Vincent, 79 and George 72.

After the funeral, his widow said that the service had been a "fitting tribute"to her hus- band.

Mrs Callan also spoke of a poignant message she had received in a telephone call from Labour stalwart Tony Benn.

* The Northern Echo attended the funeral with the permission of Mr Callan's family.