When a dedicated Lego enthusiast from Buckfastleigh, passed away at 42, his family honoured his life through the most distinctive of farewells, transforming the funeral into a celebration of his lifelong passion.

From a model flower arrangement to a blue brick coffin, the funeral was everything that Phil could ask for.

‘Phil spent a lot of his time building Lego models, and we wanted to reflect his passion for this when the time came to say goodbye,’ said Phil’s wife Kate.

‘We thought that a service so personalised might be difficult to bring together, but with the help of our family and the team at Co-operative Funeralcare Buckfastleigh, we were able to create a ceremony that Phil would have adored.’

Kerry Thornton, the Funeral Director, even personally created a special band for her hat and handkerchiefs for the bearers’ pockets out of Lego-printed fabric, and made sure to incorporate the theme into the order of service too.

The whole team also wore blue and yellow ties, the colours of Phil’s football team Torquay United.

‘We made sure to include his Johnny Number 5 model, from the film Short Circuit, a piece he was always proud of having built from scratch without instructions. It sat on top of the coffin throughout the entire funeral.

‘Phil always had a fabulous sense of humour and we knew we had to bring this into his funeral ceremony. His youngest daughter, Emily, had the great idea for her and her sister Chloe to put googly eyes on the coffin along with an empty box of fun snaps. They also both chose the song Lego House by Ed Sheeran to match the theme too - it’s little things like this that he would have loved.’

Perhaps the most unusual element was Phil’s coffin, which was made to resemble a blue building brick and was decorated with photos of his fondest built creations, with some of the actual models displayed on top.

Tracy Dommett, Funeral Arranger at Co-op Funeralcare Buckfastleigh, who helped to organise the funeral, said: ‘We discussed the idea of a custom-made coffin, as we knew we couldn’t have this theme without a brick-shaped coffin.

‘We discovered that a suitable building brick-shaped coffin has been created before but in America, so we got in contact with our coffin factory straight away to get things moving.

‘It’s certainly the first funeral of this type I’ve ever arranged, but helping families create these one-of-a-kind, personalised ceremonies, is really the best part of the job.’