The funeral of a North-East man killed in the terrorist attack on New York's World Trade Centre is to be held in America next week.

Gavin McMahon, 35, from Chester-le-Street, County Durham, was working as an insurance executive on the 99th floor of Tower Two when it was struck by a jet on September 11.

He was today described by police as a "local lad made good" who landed a post with major insurance company AON in London before being transferred to New York.

Mr McMahon's father, Terry, was with him in New York just hours before his death.

Terry McMahon had been helping his son decorate a new apartment in New Jersey and his mother, Linda, was due to fly out to America to join them.

Mr McMahon was driving in for an 8.30am meeting on September 11 while his father, a passenger in the car, was due to make a six-hour bus journey to Cape Cod to visit his sister.

Father and son parted company in the centre of the city and when the aeroplanes struck the tower, Mr McMahon senior was on the bus, oblivious to what had happened.

His son's girlfriend, New York attorney Bridget Fitzpatrick, had travelled in on the subway that morning from Brooklyn.

She witnessed the first plane hit Tower One and was there when the two towers collapsed.

Mr McMahon's retired parents, who live in Garden Farm Estate, Chester-le-Street, were devastated by the loss of their only son.

Terry McMahon, a former Northern Electric employee, said: "We are enormously proud of what Gavin had achieved, he had everything to live for. We were absolutely devastated by his death.

"Nothing could have prepared us for the horror or the shock of what happened, our lives will never be the same again."

Gavin McMahon was a life-long Sunderland soccer fan who attended St Cuthbert's RC junior school in Chester-le-Street before carrying on his studies at St Leonard's RC Comprehensive in Durham City.

He had a number of jobs after leaving school before landing the London job with AON.

He climbed the promotion ladder in the capital before his transfer to New York.

His remains were recovered by rescue teams from within Ground Zero but were only identified following DNA tests.

Confirmation of the results were only received by the family within the last 48 hours.

A funeral service will be held in New Jersey on Wednesday, November 14.

His parents, who will fly out to New York this weekend, intend to bring his cremated remains back to County Durham for private interment.