Alfie Evans funeral includes drive-past by Everton's Goodison Park

A private funeral for 23-month-old Alfie Evans will be held in Liverpool on Monday.

Doctors at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool stopped providing life-support treatment to Alfie last month after his parents, Tom Evans and Kate James, lost two rounds of fights in the High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights.

Mr Evans and Ms James had hoped to take Alfie, who had a degenerative brain disease, to a hospital in Rome.

Well-wishers for the youngster have been asked to gather outside of Everton’s Goodison Park ground in Walton Lane from the junction of Spellow Lane towards Queens Drive as the funeral procession passes between 11 and 11.30am.

Mr Evans is a fervent supporter of the Premier League club and had spoken of his hopes to take his son to watch the Blues in action.

Last week Merseyside Police said they would send a small number of officers to the funeral to offer support for those attending but stressed it would not be open to the public or media.

In a post on the Alfie’s Army Facebook page, Alfie’s uncle Daniel Evans said: “The funeral will be private due to family’s wishes, we ask that no one turns up unless you have been personally invited by Thomas and Kate as there’s a limited number of people who are allowed to attend, invitations are currently being sorted out for family and close friends. Thank you all for your support.”

During the protracted legal battle, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital said staff had experienced “unprecedented personal abuse” as it found itself at the centre of a “social media storm” as a result of the case.

Protesters attempted to storm the hospital on one occasion and blocked the road outside during demonstrations against the withdrawal of his life-support treatment.