Well-known lorry driver makes final journey on American truck to his packed funeral service in Asfordby

The funeral cortege for Dave Jones (59) also included his trike with its many lights, driven by his son, Michael, and a cohort of Melbray Bikers.

Dave worked for many firms over the years including Asfordby Storage and Haulage, Scalford Construction, Tufnells, Ritchie Transport, Charlie Brown and Bob Bass in Melton and, most recently, S&J Haulage.

After leaving school he worked as a coalman at Dwyers Yard in Asfordby, delivering coal to the village, and at the gravel pits on Station Lane. At one time he worked for Herberts builders but, being afraid of heights, got sacked for not going up a ladder!

Dave was simply mad about trucks. Over the years he’d collected up to 20,000 photos of trucks of every kind and was also a fan of Truckfest, truck racing at Donington Park and banger racing.

He also loved going on family holidays to Skegness every year and managed to cope with his fear of heights to go on holidays to Turkey, Fuengirola in Spain and Ibiza.

Another of his big loves was having a Costa Coffee in Melton every Saturday with his mates. Dave was such a loyal customer, always sitting in the same window spot and ordering a ‘latte, two shots, takeaway cup, wet’ in his words, that the coffee shop is going to give him his own plaque placing it where he sat said wife, Helen.

She said: “Dave was very much a family man. He had a wicked sense of humour and he could be infuriating at times but he would help anyone. He was just a fun guy who lived life to the full.”

Daughter Kerry and son Michael said: “He was an amazing man who always provided for his family. He was such a loveable bloke and we’re proud to call him our dad.”

Helen said her husband would been ‘humbled’ by the special send-off he was given on Monday as the funeral procession headed through Melton and onto Asfordby, pausing briefly outside his home on Morris Cam Walk, before arriving at the packed church.

She said: “It was beyond words. Dave would have been proud of what we did for him. The Melbray Bikers were brilliant, the way they pulled out in front of traffic to clear the way, and funeral director Jenny Barnes was absolutely amazing as well.”

As a member of the Melbray Bikers, Dave was among the hundreds who went on the Easter egg and Christmas gift runs, riding from Bottesford to Grantham and Melton, to put a smile on the faces of underprivileged children.

Dave, who died suddenly on June 14, leaves behind wife Helen, son Michael, daughter Kerry and his six grandchildren who he affectionately called ‘his terrorists’.