A FLYPAST was held in honour of Red Arrows pilot Jon Egging, who was laid to rest at a private service in his home village on Saturday.

Flt Lt Egging died when his jet crashed into a field near Bournemouth Airport on Saturday August 20, following a display at the Bournemouth Air Festival.

The service was held at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in the village of Morcott, Rutland and is understood to have been attended by his family, colleagues and members of the Red Arrows team.

It is believed a Battle of Britain display and the French equivalent of the Red Arrows, the Patrouille de France, took part in the flypast.

After resuming displays for the first time on Friday, the Red Arrows cancelled displays over the weekend to attend the private service in Rutland.

They flew displays as an eight-man formation on Friday, missing Red 4, for the first time since the crash near Throop. They put on a show for families at RAF Linton-on-Ouse and then staged their first public display at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire at 4.15pm.

The team cancelled a display scheduled for Portrush in Northern Ireland on Saturday so they could attend the funeral and cancelled two more displays yesterday.

The books of condolence at Bournemouth Town Hall closed yesterday after receiving more than 6,000 signatures. The books of condolence in Bournemouth Library will remain open for one more week.

Squadron Leader Liz Parker last week thanked supporters for their messages, cards, flowers and donations.

She said: “The support and generosity that the public has shown has been of great comfort to all of us here at the squadron.”

She added: “After a period of consolidation, the Red Arrows have now completed their first two public displays on Friday, 2 September 2011.

“Following Jon’s funeral, the next planned displays are in the Channel Islands next week and the team hope to continue with the remainder of the public displays as scheduled.”