THE funeral of former Easington MP John Cummings will take place next week, it has been announced.

Family and friends will gather at St Joseph’s Church in Murton, County Durham, to pay their last respects to the former miner and politician at 11am on Friday, January 20.

Mr Cummings died in a Durham care home on January 4 after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

His interest in politics started at an early age when he became a Young Socialist.

While working as an electrician at Murton Colliery, he became branch secretary of Murton Mechanics, which was part of the Durham Colliery Mechanics Association.

He was one of the youngest councillors to be elected to District of Easington Council in 1970 - rising to council chairman in 1974 and leader in 1979.

He first entered the Commons as Labour MP for Easington in 1987 and was a staunch defender of miners’ rights, fighting for those left in ill health.

Mr Cummings spent 23 years as MP before stepping down in 2010, when his agent Grahame Morris was elected in his place.

Paying tribute, Mr Morris said: “He was a proud colliery mechanic, with a deeply felt affection for the mining communities he represented with tremendous grit and determination in his union, in local government and in Parliament for over half a century.

“He showed great courage at the end having fought all of his life for the oppressed and disadvantaged and against injustice.”

The funeral will be followed by a gathering of family and friends in the Glebe Centre.