Freddie Starr's family has welcomed an offer from a funeral director to repatriate the late comedian for free after he faced having a pauper's funeral in Spain.

The comic was found dead at his apartment in the Costa del Sol on Thursday.

He had lost a large amount of his fortune and his remaining family were struggling to foot the bill of a basic funeral, which can cost £2,800 in Spain.

With the prospect of Freddie facing the indignity of a pauper's send off, his family have been "blown away" by an offer from Michael Fogg.

The 54-year-old funeral director from Sheffield has said he will bring Freddie home and hold a ceremony for free after his body was unclaimed in a Spanish morgue.

Fogg told The Sun that he made the offer as Freddie "made him laugh" and that he "couldn't bear the thought of his family being in turmoil at him being over there."

With the prospect of Freddie ending up in an unmarked grave, with just a serial number indicating where he lays, his family has expressed their thanks at the funeral offer.

Freddie's third wife, Donna Smith, was moved ot contact Fogg and told him the family was "blown away" by his offer.

With them 'on board', Fogg said it was was "just a case of putting everything in order."

The 76-year-old comedian rose to fame in the 1970s when he burst on to the scene after ­appearing in Opportunity Knocks and the 1970 Royal Variety Performance.

He went on to become one of the biggest names on British TV but was dogged with numerous issues in his personal life.

Freddie was investigated by police under Operation Yewtree for historic sexual abuse offences, but was cleared of any misconduct.

In suing those that made allegations against him, Freddie lost the case and his fortune as the legal costs mounted and he fled to Spain to avoid spiralling debts.

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