LIFELONG steam enthusiast John Henderson was buried yesterday - and travelled to his funeral in fitting style.

Followed by mourners and preceded by a walker, he journeyed to the church by the transport he had always preferred.

Instead of a hearse he was carried by a gleaming steam traction engine, which he once owned.

Mr Henderson, of Romanby, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, died in the Friarage Hospital last weekend after a long illness and was buried at St James's Church.

The 72-year-old once worked for the renowned heavy haulage firm Sunters in Northallerton and later as an engineer with the National Railway Museum in York.

But for decades, he had a passion for steam and he owned the spectacular Aveling and Porter engine for 20 years, travelling to rallies and fairs with his daughter, Kathryn, as his co-driver and wife, Mary, as his assistant.

He also meticulously restored the Little Giant, an old scaled-down three tonne steam engine, which now has pride of place in Darlington Railway Museum.

It took him almost 20 years of painstaking work to bring the miniature Bassett-Lowke back to the state it was in when it first rolled off a production line in 1905. It spent many years taking people for pleasure rides.

The engine was first steamed and tested at the Duke of Westminster's estate in Cheshire before being taken to Blackpool. It later went to Halifax, where it spent many years taking people for pleasure rides, pulling 40 people along at its top speed of 28mph

When Mr Henderson found it at a fairground in South Shields, it was in a derelict condition, but after consulting the original plans, he brought it back to working order and painted it in its original livery.

For five years it made guest appearances at railways in Saltburn, Cleethorpes and Ravenglass and, three years ago, was given a new home at the Darlington museum.

Mr Henderson was also interested in model engineering and made many miniature examples, most powered by steam and was also actively involved with old motorcycles and cars.

At yesterday's service, the church was packed with relatives and friends who had come to pay their last respects.

His widow Mary said afterwards: "For the coffin to be taken to the church by steam engine is wonderful. It is just what he would have wanted."