John Prescott's funeral to be held on Thursday

The funeral of former deputy prime minister and Hull East MP John Prescott will take place on Thursday.

The service will be held at Hull Minster at 12:00 GMT, and the family said it would be an invitation-only ceremony.

Lord Prescott died on 20 November, aged 86. He had been in a care home, living with Alzheimer's disease.

In a statement, his family said: "We wish to thank everyone for their love and support on the passing of our husband, father and grandfather."

Lord Prescott was first elected as MP for Hull East in 1970 and went on to hold the seat for almost 40 years.

He was deputy leader of the Labour Party between 1997 and 2007 and held housing, local and regional government and environment briefs.

He is remembered by many for getting into a scuffle with a protester who threw an egg at him during the 2001 general election campaign.

Lord Prescott's widow Pauline and his sons David and Johnathan said they had invited more than 300 family, friends and colleagues to the funeral to "pay their respects to a man who played a pivotal role in shaping modern British politics".

Choral-Hull, a choir made up of children from across the city, will sing at the service.

"To hear so many wonderful tributes from people who knew John has been a great source of comfort to us as we dealt with our grief," the family statement said.

"We hope the service will be an opportunity to celebrate his life and his love of Hull and its people."

Hull City Council said a number of roads would be closed on the day, between 08:30 and 16:00 GMT.

These include Lowgate, Market Place, North Church Side, South Church Side, Vicar Lane, Dagger Lane, King Street, Posterngate, Fish Street, Prince Street, Trinity House Lane, Silver Street, Scale Lane and Liberty Lane.

There is due to be a further closure of Lowgate on Wednesday between 20:00 and 00:00 GMT to allow the installation of traffic management measures.

The road will also be closed on Thursday between 20:00 and 00:00 GMT so the restrictions can be removed.

Parking restrictions will be in place along South Church Side, North Church Side and Lowgate from 06:00 GMT on Wednesday until 16:00 GMT on Thursday. Any vehicles left in the area will be removed.

In lieu of flowers, the Prescott family has requested donations for Alzheimer's Research UK.

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