SCHOOLCHILDREN, teachers and sports players were today set to attend the funeral of a popular PE teacher who was brought up in Oswaldtwistle.

James Torevell, 26, coached young basketball players at Derby Storm - an activity he shared with fiancee Linda Dixon, whom he was due to marry in July 2001.

Mr Torevell had been away from school in Derby for three weeks and was reported to have developed a chest infection. He died in Derby General Hospital on October 13.

The school's head teacher told how children and staff had been "devastated" by the unexpected death.

Mr Torevell, a PE teacher and form tutor at Chellaston School, Derby, was brought up in Oswaldtwistle, and still has family in the area. He had been working at the school since 1996.

His fiancee Miss Dixon, 27, of Stenson Fields, Derby, said: "James was the best friend anyone could dream of. He was kind, understanding, caring, compassionate, and most of all loving.

"I feel lucky to have shared my life with him for five years. He has touched my life and the life of others, so his memory shall live on." Head teacher Ray Ruszczynski said: "Mr Torevell's death has been a tragic loss to us all, and the surprise of it has been all the more shocking because he was a fit PE teacher.

"He was very popular and we were devastated when we heard the news. We held a string of assemblies to explain it to the children. We wanted the students to deal with the news in a dignified way, because that's the sort of man Mr Torevell was.

"He gave up his own time to coach basketball outside school hours and had helped some of our pupils get into the Derby Storm team."

Mr Ruszczynski said staff, sports players and pupils were today set to attend Mr Torevell's funeral in Derby.

An inquest into Mr Torevell's death has been opened and adjourned by the Derby coroner.

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