Bosley blast victim William Barks funeral

The funeral of a victim of the Bosley flour mill disaster took place at St Edward’s Church in Cheddleton yesterday.

William Barks, 51, from Leek, was one of the four people who died in the explosion at the mill on 17 July.

Mr Barks, a former Leek Post & Times print engineer, leaves his wife of 31 years, Deborah, son Liam and mother Pearl, sister Tina and brother Kelvin.

His funeral could only be held after an inquest into his death was opened in October, at which coroner for Cheshire Nicholas Rheinberg said post-mortem tests confirmed Mr Barks died from the effects of explosion and fire at the site.

The bodies of Mr Barks and colleagues Derek Moore and Dorothy Bailey, both 62, were found in the days after a huge fire caused Wood Treatment Ltd’s four-storey building near Macclesfield to collapse.

The body of Jason Shingler, 38, has still not been found.

An investigation is continuing into the cause of the blast.