AN East Lancashire soldier was laid to rest 93 years after he was killed in action after a moving service.

More than 300 people including his granddaughters attended a "very emotional" burial service for Private Richard Lancaster at the Prowse Point Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery.

His remains were found by archaeologists near the Ypres battlefield in March last year.

His granddaughter Myra Webster, 69, said: "It was a beautiful ceremony, very emotional.

"We were touched that so many people came from all over and brought such lovely flowers."

Pte Lancaster, 31, who had links with Clayton-le-Moors, Burnley and Nelson, fought with the Royal Lancashire Fusiliers and was killed in the First World War battle in 1914 aged 31.

He was identified during the dig by a heavily corroded identity disc and a regimental cap badge.

At the ceremony, soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers formed a guard a honour and sounded the Last Post. Full military honours were also accorded to two unknown Lancashire Fusiliers. They were buried after their remains were found close to Pte Lancaster but with no clues to their identity.

The First Battle of Ypres was a ferocious conflict as the Germans tried to break through British lines to reach the coast of Belgium.

Pte Lancaster, whose son, also called Richard, fought in the Second World War, was deployed to France in August 1914.

He saw action at Le Cateau and Armentieres before he was killed in action on November 10, 1914 during a counter-attack south of Ypres. He had joined the Army as a regular in 1901.

Pte Lancaster married Phoebe Porter in Burnley, Lancashire. Their marriage certificate listed them both as weavers.

His granddaughter Doreen Grimshaw, 70, of Sherfin, near Rising Bridge, also went to the ceremony. She has previously told the Lancashire Telegraph how she was stunned by the "phenomenal" discovery of his body and had given up hope he would ever be found.

Pte Lancaster's great-grandson John Hoban, of Brunshaw Road, Burnley, speaking at the time of the find, said the news had come too late for his family.

Mr Hobson said the find would have given his grandfather and mother 'peace of mind' after his fate remained a mystery for nearly a century.

Grandfather Richard and mother Barbara died in 2001 and 2002 respectively.