A JAZZ band provided the backdrop to the funeral of a pub landlord yesterday.

Brian Skipp, 57, ran the White Swan, at Stokesley, North Yorkshire. He died suddenly last week after a heart attack. Yesterday, the band led the way as his cortege wound its way through the town.

Hundreds attended the funeral, a humanist ceremony held at the crematorium, in Acklam, Middlesbrough, and afterwards raised a glass to him at the pub.

And there they found a final gift from their late friend - £502 for drinks in his memory. David Ward, the brewer at the pub's Captain Cook micro-brewery, said: "Brian and some friends had formed what they called the Takeaway Club. One of them said he was going to put £500 behind the bar for his own funeral and Brian said he would better it by putting £502 down."

Mr Skipp leaves a widow, a son and two grandchildren.

* The Northern Echo attended the funeral with the permission of his family.