The extraordinary scene as man is laid to rest in Britain's biggest casket
Tipping the scales at more than 700 pounds Mark Bamber could never lead a normal life.
After the father-of-one died of heart failure aged 38, his family were determined he should have a dignified send-off.
To accommodate his formidable 700lb-plus frame, a mahogany casket was built - As it wound its way fully laden through the streets of Mr Bamber's home town of Wigan, it weighed more than half a ton.
Alan Roby, of funeral directors Thorley Smith, the firm that supplied the casket, said: "It really was at the very edge of what is dignified. It has got to be the biggest casket ever used in this country. And it is a casket rather than a coffin. A casket is a straight rectangular box. It would have been impossible to make the coffin shape at that size." He added: "There are no hearses available that would be big enough for a casket that size so there had to be a horse-drawn platform for the journey to the cemetery."
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