Funeral service of Eastbourne war veteran to be live streamed despite equipment breakdown

The funeral of Mr Tomlin, an ex-Royal Marine who lived in Eastbourne and died of cancer at the age of 58 earlier this month, is at the Crematorium in Hide Hollow at 11am today (Friday November 6).

But due to Covid-19 and current government guidelines, the number of people able to attend is limited to just 30.

His family and friends were hoping the service could be live streamed so those unable to be there because of the restrictions could follow the proceedings and pay their last respects.

But it emerged this week the live streaming service has been broken for two months.

Now, following intervention from the Eastbourne Herald and top council officials, repairs are being made to the equipment and all services will soon be able to be live streamed again including Mr Tomlin’s, which is a full military funeral and is expected to be watched by his former colleagues and friends around the world.

Eastbourne Borough Council, which runs the Crematorium, has apologised for the problems.

A spokesperson at the local authority said, “The funeral of Tommy Tomlin will be live streamed.

“We would like to extend our deepest condolences to Mr Tomlin’s family and friends and apologise for the added upset this issue has caused.

“We are sorry for the time it has taken to rectify the fault.

“The company that provides the live streaming service has a technical team on site today (Thursday) and hopes to complete the repair work soon.”

Mr Tomlin served in the Falklands War and after leaving the armed forces worked as a doorman in various clubs in Eastbourne.