IT MAY not have been the most dignified send-off, but it was certainly effective.

Family and friends of George Ardley decided drastic action was needed when the freezing weather prevented the hearse getting to the church – so they hired a digger to carry the coffin.

Cousin Glenys Henshaw said: "George was a really jovial man who loved a joke. He would have seen the funny side."

George, a farmer, died aged 79. He was to be buried a week ago in Uppermill, Saddleworth, where he had farmed all his life.

But the first attempt to conduct his funeral service at Saddleworth Parish Church was postponed because the hearse could not get through the snow-clogged roads.

So more than 50 mourners reconvened a few days later with a four-wheel drive digger at the church for the burial service.

Digger driver Mick Harrington cleared a path to the church, helped by Julian Taylor, landlord of the Church Inn, where George’s wake took place.

Mick, 50, said: "There was no way the coffin could have got to the churchyard in the hearse. The snow was at least 2ft deep."

After the service, George’s coffin was loaded on to the digger’s front bucket and driven to the cemetery with mourners walking behind.

Rev Duncan Rhodes, who conducted the service, knew George all his life and said he was a ‘great local character’.

He said: "He was a master of local dialect and we included Delph Show, a song George had recorded on a locally-produced CD, in the funeral service.

"He would have loved his send-off."