Sir Peter Blake’s widow Lady Pippa has decided that the sailing legend will be buried near the family home in Emsworth, Hampshire. Her decision was revealed by New Zealand’s Prime Minister Helen Clark after she had spoken to Lady Pippa about a memorial service in New Zealand.

“I have spoken with Pippa this morning. She is overwhelmed by the support which has come to her and her family from New Zealand and around the world,” said the Prime Minister.

“It is her wish that Sir Peter be buried in Emsworth, the village in South England where they have made their home together, and then she and her family intend to proceed to New Zealand for a memorial service in Auckland before Christmas.

“Dates cannot yet be precise,” she continued, “because of her desire to see the crew of the Seamaster fly to the United Kingdom for the funeral.”

In Brazil, police have arrested seven of the eight bandits – known locally in Macapa as ‘water rats’ – responsible for the raid in which Sir Peter was killed. They include 23-year-old Ricardo Tavares, the man who confessed to killing Blake in self-defence. The eighth man – 20-year-old Rubens da Silva Souza – is still at large.