FORMER colleagues, friends and family turned out in strength today (Monday, March 16) to pay their last respects to a retired fire chief.

Alf Thompson, who retired as Chief Fire Officer for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service in 2000, died in hospital after a short illness on March 4, aged 66.

Mr Thompson’s coffin, draped in a Union Jack, was greeted by a guard of honour and hundreds of mourners for a Humanist funeral at the Durham Crematorium.

His friend, Richard Bull, former Chief Fire Officer of Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, who paid tributes at the service, said later: “It is a very sad and poignant occasion.

“What was gratifying was there were so many people there, from both locally, regionally and nationally - from as far afield as Kent, the Isle of Arran, Lancashire and Yorkshire - who came to pay their respects.”

The four chief officers of the existing brigades of Durham, Cleveland, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland attended.

Mr Bull said: “Everyone knew Alf Thompson as a remarkable man who contributed a lot to society and the fire services over the years.”

“He was a sincere, honest and caring person and a proud family man.”

Mr Thompson was involved in the creation of a fire safety education unit. He was awarded the OBE in 1998 for services to the community.

Mr Thompson, who lived at East Butsfield, near Consett, was married to his wife, Kate, and had one son, Andy, as well as two grandchildren, Maeve and Nell.

Born in Cleethorpes in 1949, Mr Thompson spent his early working life in the Merchant Navy, joining the fire service in 1969 in Lincolnshire and Lindsey.

After he gained promotion he moved around the country, serving in Manchester, Warwickshire and Kent before he was appointed Chief Fire Officer of Durham Fire Brigade in 1990.