Very sad IMM news story - the final chapter

Mourners form Mini cavalcade to honour a friend

Classic cars and Minis lined the entrance to The Vale Crematorium on Wednesday in a touching funeral procession to a therapist from Houghton Regis. The vast parade was a final goodbye to classic car enthusiast Andy Westcott, who was killed in a road crash in Warwickshire last month. Family and friends followed the hearse in their own vintage vehicles as the father-of-one made his way to his final resting place in Butterfield Green Road. And the sheer volume of cars meant some were only just inside the crematorium grounds when the procession stopped for the service.

Andy, of Trinity Road, Luton, died in a collision when he was on his way to the International Mini Meeting at Longbridge in Birmingham. His wife, Kerry Westcott-Stewart, witnessed the incident as she was following Andy, an occupational therapist at Poplars in Houghton Regis, in another Mini with their baby son Harry and niece Krystal Stewart. Last week Kerry, 36, told the Luton News: "We are obviously all devastated by what has happened, but it is a tribute to Andy that so many people thought so much of him and remember him with such fondness. Everyone has a happy memory and story of his sense of humour, kindness and willingness to help anyone - and, of course, his passion for cars."

More than 400 mourners turned out for Andy's funeral, and many had written heart-felt tributes to their much-missed friend on the side of one of the procession cars. One read "Andy, I love you. You will always be in my heart." Another friend wrote "Always remembered, never forgotten."
Andy was airlifted to University Hospital in Coventry after the crash on August 7. Warwickshire Police are investigating the incident on the A4177 Birmingham Road in Warwick and have appealed for information.