HUNDREDS of police officers will attend a funeral Mass today for a colleague who died as he drove a suspect to the cells.

Tributes have poured in for PC Joe Carroll, a much-loved beat officer in rural Northumberland, who died when his car overturned almost a fortnight ago on the A69 near Hexham.

The centre of Newcastle will come to a standstill when the 46-year-old officer's funeral cortege makes its 33-mile journey from his home near Bellingham to the city's Roman Catholic cathedral, The Church of St Mary.

His wife, Caroline, also 46, will be joined by friends and family, as well as by Northumbria Police officers, on the journey.

Police motorcycle outriders will escort the hearse, before police horses take over for the final few hundred yards of the procession, which will halt traffic.

Officers who knew PC Carroll have been given leave to attend the service, and a force spokeswoman said hundreds were expected to attend.

Inspector Brian English, who was a passenger in the patrol car and was injured in the accident, remains on sick leave, but will attend the service.

Officers will line the streets outside the cathedral, six colleagues from his rural beat will act as pall bearers and another officer, Sergeant Allen Clement, will play the pipes.

The funeral service will be taken by Father Harry O'Reilly, of South Shields, South Tyneside, who married the couple 21 years ago in Mrs Carroll's home county of Sussex.

The priest said: "I am finding the thought of dealing with it very difficult, but I feel I must be there as a friend for Caroline.

"She needs my support and I want dearly to officiate.

"Hearing about Joe's death was really traumatic. You do not give a thought to something like this happening."

The couple met as students at Sunderland University, where PC Carroll took a degree in economics.

His wife went on to teach in Gosforth, Newcastle.

PC Carroll, a regular churchgoer, was born in Batley, West Yorkshire, and began his career with his local force in 1982 before moving to Northumbria Police two years later.

He leaves two sisters, Mary and Trish, who still live in West Yorkshire, as does his mother.

Although he and Caroline had no children, he was extremely fond of his nieces and nephews, and took them on holidays.

He loved the outdoor life, including rowing, walking and hiking, and raised a large amount of sponsorship money through sport for St Gemma's Hospice, in Leeds.

He was highly respected by people of all ages in Bellingham, where he worked for 13 years.

He was recently awarded his long-service medal, which officers earn after 22 years.

His chief constable, Mike Craik, who led the tributes in the hours after his death, calling him a "real old-fashioned copper", will read at the noon service.

A private ceremony will follow at Newcastle's West Road Crematorium.

Steven Graham, 39, a staff sergeant at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, has been charged with the manslaughter of PC Carroll, and causing actual bodily harm to Insp English.