FRIENDS, family and former colleagues will say a final farewell to Bury's first female bus driver next week.

Mrs Edna Tonks suffered a heart attack at her home in The Close, Brandlesholme, 11 days ago.

But her body was only found two days later when her son, Bill, went to visit.

The tragedy sparked a police investigation after witnesses said the door to Mrs Tonks' home had been left open since Monday. A post mortem later revealed the 72-year-old died from natural causes and the police confirmed there was no third-party involvement.

Her funeral will take place on Tuesday (July 23) with colleagues from Mrs Tonks' bus driving days expected to attend a service at Rochdale Cemetery Chapel at 11am followed by committal at 11.30am. The Reverend John Taylor will conduct the service.

A divorcee with two sons, Bill and David, and two grandchildren, Mrs Tonks hit the headlines in 1971 when she became the first woman in Bury to become a Selnec bus company driver.

Two years later, Mrs Tonks spoke to the Bury Times of her pioneering career move for women.

She said: "The men (drivers) were riling me when I was a conductress, saying that women couldn't drive buses. I understood that 40 was the age limit and I thought I would apply. I was at that age limit."

Mrs Tonks had been a conductress in Bury for six years prior to learning to drive buses and she feared she would be out of a job if Selnec went to one-man buses.

But it was also the bus company's policy to give equal opportunities to women, so she applied to drive. Two other women had opted for the same career path but were turned down, primarily on medical grounds.

Selnec's then district manager, Mr W. Purdham, said of Mrs Tonks in 1973: "Her job as a bus driver is very arduous, but she does it very well indeed."

Due to ill-health, Mrs Tonks was forced to retire as a driver in the early 1980s.

Mrs Tonks' sons say that anyone wishing to pay their respects to their mother would be welcome to attend Tuesday's funeral service.