THE 101-year-old chariman of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Doris Thompson OBE, died on Wednesday night, just hours after the funeral of her son, Geoffrey.

Mrs Thompson, who had not been well enough to attend the service, passed away in her sleep at around 8pm.

She had been chairman of the company since the death of her husband, Leonard, in 1976. Her many achievements included becoming the first woman to receive the freedom of Blackpool.

That morning hundreds of mourners packed Holy Trinity Church to pay their last respects to Geoffrey Thompson OBE DL.

Leading figures from the worlds of business, tourism and politics joined members of the Thompson family for the service.

Around 1,000 mourners were at the church, with hundreds more in an adjoining chapel and others gathered on the street outside. Pleasure Beach employees were able to follow the service with a live link-up to the park.

Mourners included entertainers such as Frank Carson and Jeremy Beadle, politicians including Euro-MP Sir Robert Atkins and former tourism minister, John Lee, while the mayor of Blackpool, Cllr Maxine Callow, led the civic delegation.

The service was jointly conducted by Pleasure Beach Chaplain, Reverend Canon Dick Cartmell and his predecessor, Reverend Graham Rainford, now The Bishop in Canterbury's Senior Chaplain.

The Right Reverend Stephen Pedley, Bishop of Lancaster, gave the Blessing.

The service also heard tributes from friends of Mr Thompson, offering happy memories of one of Blackpool's foremost characters.

John Collins, who knew Mr Thompson for 30 years through their work in the tourism industry, praised the 'perfect English gentleman' for his loyalty and his achievements.

To the Pleasure Beach's new managing director and deputy, Amanda and Nick Thompson, he said: "Keep his dreams alive and keep his flag flying for all of us."

Russell Chambers, a friend of Mr Thompson's children, spoke on his ability to work with people of all generations, and said: "He wasn't 57 when the big one opened, he wasn't 67 when he died. He was a schoolkid, and that is what he will remain."

Rainy Brown, who first met Mr Thompson at university 50 years ago, read H. Scott Holland's poem 'Death is nothing at all.' After the funeral, the horse-drawn hearse carrying Mr Thompson's body made its way back the quarter of a mile to the park, from where his final journey began, to a private, family burial.