THE family of a former bus driver have thanked everyone involved for the 'lovely send-off' for their dad.

Relatives of Wilfred Charles Sykes had no idea about the 'touching' tribute paid to the 91-year-old by his former employers until the funeral cortège pulled up outside the Network Warrington depot on Wilderspool Causeway on Thursday.

Daughter Maureen Bailey said: "We were all taken aback when we saw the bus with dad's name on it.

"It was fantastic and such a lovely tribute.

"Everybody was getting out to take pictures and it stopped the traffic on Bridge Foot.

"I think my dad would have loved it."

Mr Sykes, who died of pneumonia on October 31, had worked for Network Warrington for more than 40 years as a conductor and driver until he retired in his early 60s.

The father-of-three, who had 12 grandchildren, four great grandchildren and three great, great grandchildren, had previously appeared in the Warrington Guardian during a new pay scheme being launched in the 1980s.

Maureen, aged 66 and from Howley, added: "He liked meeting people on the job and missed that when he retired.

"He was a big Hull KR fan and moved to Warrington just after the war.

"He served with the Pioneer Corps but didn't speak about the war much.

"He was one of the officers guarding the German prisoners and they all used to get on and respect my dad.

"Any prisoners that went Awol would always came back on time just to please my dad."

Pictures of the bus on Facebook also led to a number of well-wishers paying tribute on Facebook with one comment reading: "What a wonderful gesture makes you proud to say you came from Warrington" while others described it a a 'lovely and respectful gesture'.

Alastair Nuttall, Network Warrington interim operations director, said: "Wilfred worked for the company from 1952.

"Only one member of our current workforce remembers him - the last driver who would have worked with Wilfred retired earlier this year.

"When Wilfred's family contacted us, we felt it would be a fitting mark of respect to display one of the buses that Wilfred would have worked on when he was a conductor."