A lifelong resident of Merton has been ‘buried’ at sea in a "touching" ash scattering ceremony.

Edward Mills served as a naval engineer working on submarines with the shore-based HMS Dolphin in Gosport in his youth.

However, he was seriously injured in 1962, when a torpedo being swung into a hatch knocked into him and sent him flying into the bay, leaving him hospitalised for six months and ending his navy career.

Mr Mills married Mary-Rose Dimech in 1985, and the couple lived in Jarrow Close, Morden, until his death in May last year at the age of 80.

Close friend Keith Wakeley, 83, who used to own a photography studio opposite the Nelson Hospital in Kingston Road, Wimbledon, but now lives in the Isle of Wight, attended the sea burial with Mrs Mills.

Mr Wakeley said: “Edward was a bit of a jack of all trades. He was an accomplished musician, and he was a very kind man.

“We had a short ceremony on the boat, and then Mary-Rose and I went up on deck and the priest said a few words before they dropped his casket down into the sea.

“It was very touching. Mary-Rose came away feeling quite uplifted. It had been a long, drawn out process and she was pleased to finally do it.”

“She was worried because she had forgotten to bring flowers from the shore, but she had his old navy cap with her so after they dropped the casket she kissed the hat and let it fall into the sea.”

Although Mr Mills was cremated in June 2016, the scattering of his ashes was delayed after an original post-mortem examination proved inconclusive. However, in November 2016 a coroner ruled he had died of natural causes.

Mr Mills’ ashes were ‘buried’ at Spithead, an official navy point just off the coast of Portsmouth.