Football shirts for shot schoolboy's funeral

LONDON, Sep 6 (Reuters) The parents of murdered 11-year-old Rhys Jones have asked well-wishers to wear bright clothes or football strips for their son's funeral today.

The schoolboy, a keen fan of his local side Everton, will be buried after a service at Liverpool's Anglican cathedral at 2 pm (local time).

He died after being shot in the neck in a pub car park in the Croxteth area of the city on his way home from playing football on August 22.

Seventeen people have been arrested over his murder, but no charges have been brought.

Police are searching for a youth seen on a BMX bicycle in the area at the time.

Hundreds of people attended a vigil for Jones on Sunday.

His parents, Stephen and Melanie, and his older brother lit a candle in the pouring rain at the service at Croxteth Country Park, as dignitaries, religious figures and the police repeated appeals for anyone with information to come forward.

REUTERS RJ HS1046