Northampton police issue statement following large funeral procession through town

Northamptonshire Police has issued a statement in connection with a large funeral that took place in Northampton on Wednesday (June 8).

Around 80 vehicles joined a cortege from the Weston Favell area, through the town centre to Towcester Road cemetery.

But warnings of potential disruption to traffic were only issued via social media shortly before the procession got under way.

Many pubs in the Billing and Far Cotton areas closed while reports of anti-social behaviour hit social media.

The police statement issued on Thursday (June 9) said: “We were made aware that a funeral with a large number of mourners was due to take place and had been liaising with the funeral directors prior to the event.

“The final decision about the route being used by mourners wasn’t made until the start of the service, at which point we shared the details publicly to minimise impact to members of the public.

“While the force has every sympathy with the bereaved, various traffic and other offences were committed during the event. These will be investigated, and we will seek to prosecute those responsible where appropriate.

“We did advise local licensed premises of the event, with any decision to close being one for individual businesses to take.

"The funeral cortege did not have a police escort. However, due to the large number of vehicles in the procession, officers attended to help with traffic management.”