Only Fools and Horses funeral journey for Lancaster dinner lady

When Ethel Westover revealed her dying wish was to travel to her funeral in a yellow hearse '“ her family decided to go one better.
The Only Fools and Hearses yellow Reliant Regal takes 98-year-old Ethel Westover on her final journey to Lancaster and Morecambe Crematorium.The Only Fools and Hearses yellow Reliant Regal takes 98-year-old Ethel Westover on her final journey to Lancaster and Morecambe Crematorium.
The Only Fools and Hearses yellow Reliant Regal takes 98-year-old Ethel Westover on her final journey to Lancaster and Morecambe Crematorium.

So Ethel got a ‘lovely jubbly’ send-off of which Del Boy himself would be proud.

The 98-year-old from Lancaster was taken on her final journey in a replica yellow Reliant Regal from the TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses.

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The iconic car was supplied by novelty funeral car hire company Only Fools and Hearses.

Ethel Westover, 98, who died on New Year's Day.Ethel Westover, 98, who died on New Year's Day.
Ethel Westover, 98, who died on New Year's Day.

The Fleetwood firm aims to “offer a family a totally unique Del Boy send-off, as we know the Trotters have made us cry with laughter for over 30 years”.

Ethel’s nephew Mick Dennison said: “My auntie Ethel died on New Year’s Day and on her death bed she said my favourite colour is yellow so she wanted everybody at the funeral in yellow and a yellow hearse.

“Her son Stephen couldn’t find one but he came across the Del Boy one.

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“Auntie Ethel would have loved it, she had a wicked sense of humour.”

Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and Del Boy (David Jason) in a classic Only Fools and Horses episode. BBC/PA WireRodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and Del Boy (David Jason) in a classic Only Fools and Horses episode. BBC/PA Wire
Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and Del Boy (David Jason) in a classic Only Fools and Horses episode. BBC/PA Wire

Ethel, who lived on Watery Lane, was a dinner lady at Ryelands school for many years.

She had a son and a daughter, Stephen and Karen, and was married to Len, who was in the SAS during the Second World War when Ethel was in the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI).

Her funeral was at Lancaster and Morecambe Crematorium on Monday.

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