Representatives of police forces across the UK are gathering in York for the funeral of Pc Rosie Prior, who died as she helped at the scene of a road crash.
A full ceremonial police funeral for North Yorkshire officer Pc Prior is being held at York Minster on Thursday morning, with around 800 family, friends and colleagues expected to attend.
The cortege will be led through the streets to the historic cathedral by a police piper and four police horses, with the approach to the Minster lined by North Yorkshire officers and flag bearers from every force.
There will be a guard of honour outside the Minster.
Pc Prior’s husband Chris said in a statement: “On behalf of my family and I, I would firstly like to thank North Yorkshire Police and the (Police) Federation for their amazing support during this horrific time.
“I would like to specifically mention our Family Support Officers who have been fantastic.
“The amount of support we have received from family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues and Rosie’s work colleagues proves that even in the darkest of times, the world does have amazing people in it.
“I would ask that the media allows the boys and I time to rebuild our lives, noting we will have a huge Rosie void in it, and as such we will not be making any further comments.”
Pc Prior, 45, came across a road collision on the A19 at Bagby, near the town of Thirsk, North Yorkshire, and was standing on the verge when she and two others were struck by a lorry last month.
The off-duty officer and Ryan Welford, 41, from Knaresborough, who had been involved in the first collision, died at the scene.
A teenage boy, who was a passenger in Mr Welford’s car, was seriously injured.
North Yorkshire Chief Constable Tim Forber said after the incident that York-based Pc Prior had joined the force more than two years ago because “she wanted to help people”.
Mr Forber said: “Rosie epitomises the very best of British policing, she put the safety of others before her own safety.”
Pc Prior’s family described her as “a loving mum, wife, daughter, sister, aunty” who will be “deeply missed”.
North Yorkshire Police said that Pc Prior was born in Leeds.
She joined the force in May 2022 as a student officer before joining the response team in York.
The force said that part of a response team’s duties is searching for and helping missing people, including children, and this was an aspect of the job Pc Prior deeply cared about.
She had previously worked in sales with EuroDirect, which is now part of TransUnion, where she met her husband, Chris.
More recently, Pc Prior ran a coffee van business before joining the police.
The driver of the lorry, a 65-year-old man from Berwick-upon-Tweed, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and later released under investigation, North Yorkshire Police said.
The family has invited guests and members of the public to donate to the Police Children’s Charity, which provides support to police families through adversity and was a charity Pc Prior supported.
Donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/campaign/rosieprior.
