A FUNERAL celebrating the life of Riccall builder Tommy Thompson could be held next week as his family hopes to fly his body home over the coming days.

A second post-mortem examination to establish the cause of his death was due to take place yesterday - two weeks after the 59-year-old's body was uncovered in a shallow woodland grave in Ireland.

The Irish police, the Gardai, launched a murder investigation following the discovery in County Laois, nine months after the father-of-five disappeared.

He had been working in Ireland for eight years, but visited his family in Riccall regularly and stayed in constant phone contact.

After a fortnight together over Easter in 2007, all phone contact ended after his return to Ireland.

His widow Sandra, 50, and their daughters Jane, 27,and Vicky, 19, are desperate to bring his body home and grieve properly.

But they do not intend to sever their links with Ireland - the family wants to replace a cross placed at the site where Mr Thompson was found with a permanent fixture and plant a tree alongside it. They are also determined to attend the trial once a murder charge is brought.

The family's ordeal has touched Press readers, with Rita Biggins, a retired teacher from York, contacting the newspaper with an offer to underwrite the cost of flying Mr Thompson back.

"I can't bear the thought of that family having the agony any longer," she said.

"I am an elderly woman. I don't intend to take money with me. There are no pockets in a shroud. Let's just get the sadness out of their eyes."

Jane said: "We really appreciate the offer. It is very kind. But we just want to keep it in the family, and it will be covered through the insurance."

She said her family was still very shaken by their loss.

Explaining that the post- mortem examination was expected to take place yesterday, she said: "We probably won't know what will happen until today.

"If we can bring him home, we are hoping we will be able to hold his funeral next week.

"These post-mortems prolong it all. I know they are doing everything step by step to make sure they don't miss anything. One small thing overlooked could mean that whoever has done this could get away with it.

"It is so hard to arrange anything because we don't know when we can bring him home.

"When the trial is on we will be over there. I want to see whoever did this put away. I think we all feel like that."

* A man in his 30s was arrested after the body was found. He was released without charge and a file is being prepared for the Director Of Public Prosecutions.

In December, two men were arrested in connection with Mr Thompson's disappearance after police found items missing from his house on their land. They were not linked to his death at the time.