A motorbike-mad mum got the "perfect" send off in a hearse - attached to the back of a TRIKE.

Diane Thompson, 59, kept motorbikes all her life, even storing them in her kitchen and her living room over the years. So when the mum-of-two passed away unexpectedly in February this year, her son Laurie, 40, knew he had to give her a final goodbye befitting to her passion.

Laurie, from Basildon, Essex, arranged for a special hearse, attached to the back of a motor trike, to carry his mum the six miles from her home to Pitsea Crematorium last Friday (April 16).

Laurie also put out an appeal on Facebook ahead of Diane's funeral calling for bikers around Basildon to come and say their last goodbyes to his mum.

And he was "overwhelmed" with emotion when a whopping 78 motorbikes turned up as she set off from her home - and followed her hearse in a procession to the crematorium.

Laurie said: "It was the perfect send-off for her. It was brilliant - it was exactly as she would have wanted.

"We couldn't have wished for a better day. I was blown away by all the support from bikers - it's such a great community."

Diane suddenly collapsed and died at home on February 20 this year, not long after beating breast cancer.

Her family are still waiting for answers on what caused her death - but Laurie said they suspect it was linked to Diane having the AstraZeneca vaccine a couple of weeks previously.