Motorists were warned today of delays in Wolverhampton later this week due to the funeral of a popular Sikh businessman.  

Thousands of mourners will follow the horsedrawn funeral procession to Bushbury Crematorium on Friday afternoon.

The family of Sardar Jit Singh Sanghera has asked the police for help in redirecting traffic.

The slow-moving entourage will be led by a horse and carriage and include many cars and coaches. The family has asked mourners to park at Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Sedgley Street, from where coaches will leave at noon to take mourners to Mr Sanghera’s home in Langley Road, Lower Penn.

The entourage will leave the family home at 1.30pm and is expected to take an hour to reach the crematorium travelling along Langley Road, Trysull Road and Merridale Road, through Chapel Ash, along the Ring Road, turning left at Waterloo Road down to Fiveways island. It will then process along Stafford Road and turn right into Bushbury Lane.

Born in 1930 in Rajasthan, India, Mr Sanghera was a farmer. In 1948, aged 18, he married Nasib Kaur and they had five children, Sukhdev Singh Sanghera, Surinder Kaur, Jaswant Singh Sanghera, Jasbir “Lubi” Singh Sanghera and Amarjit Kaur.

He moved to Chester in 1959 where he worked as a farm hand. Then he went to Swindon and finally settled in Wolverhampton, living in Craddock Street, Whitmore Reans. He worked for Sage Aluminum of Wombourne for 23 years.

The whole family came together in 1966/67 in Wolverhampton and started several businesses from market trading to a large corporation of conglomerate companies. The two main companies which the family are associated with are the motor trade centre Auto Surefit based in Marston Road and Terminus Contract Hire in Penn Road.

Grandson Kulraj Singh Sanghera said today: “The family business has contributed significantly to Wolverhampton over the last 20 years.

“My grandfather was the foundation of the family who was a devoted, loving family man and was also a devout Sikh. During his life, he helped a number of charities in Wolverhampton as well as in his native Punjab India and Rajasthan, where the family has contributed to building Sikh temples, school and hospitals.”

Mr Sanghera leaves 17 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

After retiring in 1991 he devoted most of his time to his grandchildren. Kulraj added: “He was a great man who enjoyed life as well as fitness and attended the gym four times a week. He will be missed by the Sikh community across the world.”

Mr Sanghera had been a widower for the last 32 years, after his wife died suddenly in 1975 at the age of 41. He died at New Cross Hospital on January 31 from a brain haemorrhage with his family at his bedside.