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Pallbearers donned Sergeant Pepper outfits to pay their respects to a Liverpool photographer who became one of the city‘s first Beatles tour guides.

Mourners packed into St Mary’s Church in Little Crosby for the funeral of photographer Phil Coppell, who died recently at his home in Crosby .

Gilmoss-born Mr Coppell started his career working for the Peter Kaye photographic studios in Liverpool before moving on to the Catholic Pictorial newspaper.

He then took a job as a ship’s photographer, but was lured away from the sea in 1971 to join the staff of the short-lived Mersey Mirror newspaper.

He later began shooting pictures for the national press through Mercury Press Agency and began to immerse himself in his greatest passion – the music of the Merseybeat era.

He became one of the first Beatles Tour Guides and led countless numbers of Magical History Tours.

George Moran, a member of Liverpool Press Club and Catholic Pic photographer in the 1960s and 70s, said: “Phil was a creative photographer who showed great patience and enormous understanding of his subjects.

“His cheerful character always shone through the lens. He will be sorely missed.”

Mr Coppell later used his unrivalled knowledge of 60s music to become qualified as an expert on The Beatles when, in 2013, he gained a Master of Arts degree, in “The Beatles, Popular Music and Society” from Liverpool Hope University .

He was also at the forefront of the campaign to save Number 9 Madryn Street – birthplace of Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr , and became chairman of the Save Madryn Street campaign.

Hope University’s Professor Mike Brocken said: “As I was setting up the ‘Beatles’ MA in 2009, Phil was a massive help to me regarding Beatles tourism and we would meet on regular basis in the old Everyman, so that I could pick his brains.

“I could see that he fancied doing the MA himself but he was a bit nervous because, like me, he’d left school early.

“But after a couple of years, probably as he could see that the programme was a ‘stayer’, he joined us and was a model student, graduating with the MA after two years’ study.

“He actually graduated at St George’s Hall and it was one of the proudest days of his life.

“During this time he was also leading the Save Madryn Street campaign and I was able to put his thoughts concerning all of this into my book The 21st Century Legacy of the Beatles, which was published last summer.

"It contains a whole chapter dedicated to Phil’s work.

“What a funny, self-educated, funny guy he was. It was a privilege to have known him.”

Mr Coppell was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in 2015 and made detailed preparations for his funeral, including specifying the Beatles’ psychedelic Magical History Tour coach as the vehicle to transport mourners.

Mourners at his funeral were asked to wear “bright ties” in memory of his vast collection of Beatles design ties.

He is survived by his wife Paula, and their two daughters Joy and Grace.