A TERMINAL cancer sufferer made sure that he was still around to attend his own wake at a pub in Bedale.

About 200 people attended the event for Neville Carter at the Green Dragon where, according to landlord Gordon Wanless, the atmosphere was more like Christmas or a wedding reception.

Mr Carter, son of the former landlord of the Cover Bridge Inn near Middleham, was told about a month ago that he had only a short time to live because of his illness.

Mr Wanless, who organised the wake with his wife, Dorothy Wanless, and Mr Carter, said: "I think Neville thought he would have his wake before he died and that he would join it. He was here all night, sitting in the bar and enjoying himself. I think he still has about 20 pints waiting for him to drink.

"We were continuously on the go from noon until 10.30 at night and we had four or five landlords from different pubs including the Green Dragon at Hawes.

"I have been around for a bit and I have never heard of anything like this, but there was nothing morbid about it at all. People went from one group to another and were talking to Neville. It was just like a wedding and more like Christmas.

"I think the feeling was that there but for the grace of God go I."

Mr Carter had a flat in Aiskew until he moved to Masham to live with his mother, who attended the wake.

Mr Wanless said: "Neville used to come into Bedale to drink and seemed to settle here, drinking reasonably regularly for about a year or 18 months."

The D and S Times has been unable to contact Mr Carter who, it is understood, had to return to hospital for treatment following his wake.