THE funeral will take place next week of an avid racegoer who failed to recover from a heart attack after collapsing at a racecourse.

Raymond Coatman suffered a heart attack at Haydock Park, Merseyside, on September 27 and died at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital on Monday.

Mr Coatman, 77, a retired miner from Sacriston, County Durham, was a well-known figure across tracks in the North-East and Scotland, and went racing up to three times a week.

His nephew, Denis Corrigan, said he and his uncle had travelled to Merseyside with a group of men for a weekend away.

Mr Coatman decided to use the trip as an opportunity to go racing, but collapsed as he was about to enter the racecourse.

He added: "The family are very grateful to the paramedics at Haydock and the hospital because they did everything they possibly could for Raymond.

“The paramedics did a great job on him, he was dead for around a quarter of an hour, but they managed to bring him back after nine attempts."

Mr Corrigan, who also lives in Sacriston, said his uncle kept greyhounds in the past which he would race.

He had suffered previous heart attacks, including one shortly after stepping off an aircraft following a holiday to Crete, but had been in good health in recent years.

He added: "Raymond got the Racing Post every day and it was his bible, he lived by it.

"He was fanatical about racing and used to go whenever he could. A lot of the bookies knew him and he just loved it.

“He liked a bet but he was also happy just to watch the horses.”

Mr Coatman is survived by his wife, Maureen, and daughter Alison.

His funeral will be held at Durham Crematorium at 1.30pm on Wednesday, October 16.