PICTURES: 'Amazing' turnout for well-known Northampton homeless man's funeral service in Market Square

The funeral service of a well-known Northampton homeless man saw an ‘amazing’ turnout at the weekend.

A crowd of around 400 people reportedly gathered in Market Square to pay their respects to George Murray, who had been who had been homeless for more than a decade.

George, who was Scottish, reportedly died on Wednesday, September 21 after going into critical care. He was 51 years old.

Street pastor Stan Robertson, who runs the Project 16:15 homeless organisation, said it was an ‘honour’ to conduct George’s service.

Stan said: “It was an amazing turn out from across the many support networks, faith groups and individuals from all walks of life. To see how much impact one man can have on a community was quite breathtaking, and to have had the privilege of organising and conducting both services was an absolute honour. My hope remains that if George's passing is to leave a legacy, it has to be the recognition of the humanity behind every blanket and the value, the worth of every individual faced with life on our streets.”

The service started at 10.30am with George’s coffin leaving Mark Elliott Funeral Directors in St Giles’ Street and heading down Abington Street to the sound of bagpipes from Rod Elder.

From 11am until around midday tributes were paid to George in the Market Square before he was played out to Amazing Grace and taken to the Counties Crematorium at Milton Malsor.

More than £6,000 was raised by 314 people to give George 'the funeral and send off he deserves'.

Click here to read some of the tributes paid to George since his passing.