THE funeral of Manchester legend Tony Wilson is to take place at an invitation-only service in the city today.

Mr Wilson, a broadcaster and owner of Factory Records, died aged 57 on August 10 with his family and friends at his bedside.

He had been having treatment for kidney cancer at Christie Hospital.

Friends, family, musicians and colleagues in the music industry are all expected to attend the service at St Mary's RC Church.

His family have asked that they be allowed to grieve privately for him.

Fans wishing to pay tribute to the man dubbed Mr Manchester have been asked instead to send flowers, or make a donation to the Christie Hospital Trust.

Mr Wilson was working to rebrand the region through the Pennine Lancashire project.

He and his partner Yvette Livesey, from Oswaldtwistle, had been working with Elevate, the Housing Market Renewal company, to raise the profile of East Lancashire in the same way he had seen Manchester re-invent itself since the 1970s.

Elevate, a key driver of the Pennine Lancashire project, appointed Wilson/Livesey Associates consultancy to generate ideas to transform the area into a more vibrant place.

Their main idea was to rebrand East Lancashire as Pennine Lancashire. There were also plans to make a number of improvements across the region including a fashion tower , a football theme park, more local music events, public art, better rail links to Manchester and new sporting centres.