Three-day funeral for Joe Longthorne as cortège will travel through Blackpool

The 64-year-old entertainer died in the arms of his husband Jamie Moran on Saturday after a battle with cancer that lasted three decades.

The send off will start this Sunday when Joe’s cortège will be driven to his sister Ann’s house in Hull, where he will lie in rest overnight.

Then on Monday at 11am, the funeral procession will make its way through the streets of Hull before going past his late parents’ home.

His body will then be taken back to Blackpool to rest at his home overnight.

On Tuesday, the funeral cortege will leave Joe’s home in Layton at 11am and travel down Westcliffe Drive, towards Church Street in Blackpool and past The Music Hall Tavern.

It will then go past the Winter Gardens, the Grand Theatre, Viva Blackpool, and along the Prom and past North Pier to arrive at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, in Talbot Road, for a full Requiem Mass starting at noon.

The funeral service is public, which Joe wanted to have, and traditional funeral dress is advised. A burial will take place in Layton Cemetery shortly afterwards.

A public wake will be then be held at Viva Blackpool, in Church Street, so Joe can be remembered in a “suitable style which he himself would have approved of”.

Joe was diagnosed with blood cancer in 1987 and fought off the disease on a number of occasions during the past 32 years

He carried on entertaining throughout his illness and was due on stage at Viva at the

weekend.

Flowers can be sent to Box Brothers,13-15 Hawes Side Lane,Blackpool, FY4 4AP, to arrive between 3pm-5pm on Monday, August 12.