Trouble on the way to a funeral

Mourners watched as the 100-year-old hearse hit a bollard, causing it to veer into two cars before toppling onto the pavement.

The coffin, carrying the body of Caroline Thompson, 79, was dislodged inside the smashed antique carriage.

The horseman and his two grooms were hurled to the ground and a 3ft high garden wall was knocked down during the accident.

The accident happened in Ipswich, Suffolk on Wednesday when a car overtook the funeral hearse quickly causing the carriage to veer into the street.

Two of the four black horses pulling the carriage broke free and galloped into the road, damaging passing cars.

The body of Mrs Thompson was eventually put in another hearse and the funeral started two hours late at St Mary the Virgin Church in nearby Bramford.

The horseman Mike Daniell, 57, suffered an injured hip and his son Ed, 20, who was a groom was left with a broken nose and injured pelvis.

Mr Daniell said: “I have been taking horse-drawn carriages to funerals for 28 years and this is the first accident we have had. It was just a set of very unfortunate circumstances.There was no real spooking of the horses.”