Lorry carries driver on last journey

A Shropshire trucker made his final lorry journey when his coffin was carried to his funeral on his beloved Scania truck.

The funeral cortege of Joseph Alan Swain, known as Alan or Chico, was joined by a convoy of lorries as it left his home in Wrekin View, Madeley, on Saturday for a funeral at Telford Crematorium.

Mr Swain, 63, died at the Princess Royal Hospital on April 29. He had been fighting cancer since last year.

He was a founding member of the Telford Truckers Club, which was set up as a social club for the town's lorry drivers in 1980.

Mr Swain worked for a number of local hauliers. For the past 15 years he had worked for Don Plant Hire and it was the lorry he drove for the firm which carried his coffin.

Club committee member John Booth said the convoy of lorries had been the best tribute they could give to Mr Swain.

"He was a prolific figure in the transport industry," said Mr Booth. "Everyone knew him because he was the sort of man who would do anything for anyone.

"Alan was one of the founder members of the club along with others who are no longer with us. It was set up as a social club for drivers in Telford.

"We met every fortnight and every year we would have a Christmas party, a coach trip to Blackpool and several of us drivers would go to Spain for a week," he added.

Over the years, Mr Swain, who was still a committee member when he died, and the club had raised more than £10,000 for its members, the County Air Ambulance and the Severn Hospice.

Truckers came from as far afield as Newcastle-upon-Tyne to pay their respects to Mr Swain on Saturday and hundreds of mourners packed out the crematorium.

He leaves a wife Margaret, sons Ian and Andy and daughter Samantha, as well as their partners Jacquie, Ellen and Tim, and three grandchildren Taylor, Fraser and Alice.

By Jo Cunningham