head of traveller family laid to rest in 'solid gold' coffin in south london

Frank Thompson’s solid gold coffin took a month to make,before he was laid to rest at a plot in a South London cemetery (Picture: SWNS)

The head of a traveller family was buried in a solid gold coffin in South London.

Frank Thompson died aged 69 of a chest infection on July 2.

His family spared no expense in giving him ‘the best possible send off’,including a tour of areas he worked and owned businesses including Manchester and Nottingham in a Rolls Royce.

Mr Thompson’s farewell trip also took him past cemeteries where his friends and family were laid to rest.

Over the next year,a large marble tomb will be built around his gold coffin.

A family friend revealed that the six-figure sum coffin was so ornate it took over a month to arrive after Mr Thompson died.

They said: ‘The casket is solid gold.

‘His son ordered it from abroad. The cost was stupendous – six figures.

‘It took weeks to arrive. He’d passed away for nearly a month before we could lay him to rest.’

Frank Thompson’s funeral,which paid tribute to his tarmac paving businesses (Picture: SWNS)

A picture of Mr Thompson in a frame displayed at his funeral (Picture: SWNS)

A hearse brings Frank Thompson’s gold coffin to a cemetery in South London (Picture: SWNS)

The friend added that the family had decided to do such an elaborate send-off in order to demonstrate that travellers are not ‘all about fighting and causing trouble’.

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