BEAULIEU will come to as standstill today as members of the close-knit community say farewell to Lord Montagu.

Residents, traders and visitors will line the narrow High Street as the peer makes his final journey through the village he called home for almost 90 years.

His favourite car, a 1909 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, will be used to transport his coffin past shops, cottages and the parish school.

The High Street will be closed to traffic and businesses are also due to shut for a short period.

The specially-adapted vehicle will leave the Montagu family’s ancestral home, Palace House, and travel through the village before heading to the National Motor Museum, which Lord Montagu founded in the early 1950s.

His coffin will then be carried into Beaulieu Abbey Church for the one-hour funeral service, due to start at 3pm.

Seating is limited and will be reserved for family and close friends. Other mourners will be seated in the Beaulieu Abbey cloisters, where they will be able to watch the service on a large screen.

Lord Montagu, 88, died at Palace House on August 31 after a short illness.

A Beaulieu spokesman said: “His funeral is open to all. We are expecting a large people of people from the local community, including people who knew Lord Montagu and representatives from local organisations.”

Mourners will be led by the peer’s oldest son, Ralph Montagu, who now becomes the new Lord Montagu.

He will be joined by his wife Ailsa and his half-brother, Jonathan, who has flown over from his home in Berlin. Lord Montagu’s widow, Fiona, Lady Montagu, and his first wife, Belinda, Lady Montagu, will also be there.

Other mourners will include actor Oliver Tobias - a family friend - and motor racing commentator Murray Walker, dubbed the Voice of Formula 1.

Murray, who lives near Fordingbridge, is a frequent visitor to the motor museum. His father Graham, who died in 1962, helped Lord Montagu establish a motorcycle collection at the award-winning attraction.

The Bishop of Southampton, the Very Rev Jonathan Frost, will give one of the readings.

Following the service Lord Montagu’s coffin will be carried to the family burial ground, where he will be interred beside his parents in a private ceremony.

The museum will be closed all day to enable the funeral to take place. Attractions at nearby Buckler’s Hard will shut at 2pm.