AROUND 700 mourners came to Middlewich last week to pay respects to a popular traveller and four arrests were made.

The huge congregation followed Victorian-style horse drawn carriage hearse from Sandbach in to Middlewich on Thursday, April 16, before the funeral which was held at Middlewich Community Church on Brooks Lane.

A police operation was set up to manage the huge crowd visiting the town and give a police escort back to Sandbach after the funeral.

Four members of the congregation were arrested with two being charged with possessing a bladed article in a public place and the two others being granted bail.

Cuey Doherty, 38, of Stoke-on-Trent and Darren Sharkey, 30, of Betws-y-Coed appeared at South Cheshire Magistrates Court on Friday.

Sharkey was given a community order of 12 months, 160 hours unpaid work, and Doherty was given conditional bail until his trial at Crewe Magistrates on July 30.

Cheshire Police said the large funeral caused minimum disruption and thanked the public for their co-operation.

A spokesman for Cheshire Police said: “Cheshire police thank the public for their co-operation during a large funeral that took place across the Middlewich, Sandbach and Haslington areas on Thursday, April 16.

“Working with our partners at Cheshire East Council, police were able to ensure traffic disruption was managed effectively. The event − which was attended by around 700 people − passed with minimum disruption to the wider community.

“Four people were arrested and two were later charged with possessing a bladed article in a public place. The other two men were bailed, pending further enquiries.”