Melksham town centre came to a standstill on Saturday as hundreds of people followed a horse-drawn hearse to attend the funeral of great-grandfather Herbert Allison.

About 500 people gathered for the 85-year-old’s funeral service at the Methodist United Reformed Church in High Street at noon.

Mr Allison’s grandchildren, including former Manchester City, Portsmouth and Jamaica footballer Fitzroy Simpson, as well as some of his great-grandchildren, were among those who walked behind the hearse, which left from his family home in Pembroke Road.

His grandson Sam Allison, who plays for Chippenham Town, said: “Around 500 people packed into the church, with many standing in the corridors and outside.

“My granddad was a very popular man who had a big family and knew a lot of people in the town.

“I was one of six pallbearers carrying the coffin into the church. My cousin, Fitzroy was also a pallbearer as well as four other grandchildren.

“The day went very well. We couldn’t have hoped for any better.”

The service lasted two hours and was led by Pastor Una Davis. It included tributes from his children and grandchildren as well as the hymns Amazing Grace and Abide With Me.

It was followed by a burial at St Michael’s and All Angels churchyard, off Canon Square.

Mr Allison, 29, of Foundry Close, Melksham, said: “We went on to celebrate his life at the Assembly Hall where we had music and food until about midnight.

“We had a fireworks display at the back of Melksham House as well.

“After we left the Assembly Hall we went back to my grandma’s and carried on the party until the early hours.”

The late Mr Allison moved to Trowbridge in 1958 from Clarendon in Jamaica, where he had grown up and went on to have 11 children, 51 grandchildren and 52 great-grandchildren.