LEE Harris and Samantha Badham, the devoted Here-fordshire couple killed in the London tube bomb blasts, will be buried together.

The families of Lee and Samantha are planning a joint funeral in Ledbury - where she grew up - to keep the couple as close in death as they were in life.

Details and a date for the service were still to be confirmed at the time of going to press, but St Michael's Church seemed the likely venue followed by a burial at the town's cemetery.

Lee, from Hereford, was critically injured in the blast between King's Cross and Russell Square stations. He died without regaining consciousness at the Royal London Hospital last Friday.

At the end, his mother Lynne told him it was time to "go and find Sam", who was then still listed as missing. On Monday, she was formally identified among the dead.

The tragic story of Lee and Samantha, reported in the Hereford Times last week, captured the heart of a country reeling from the London bombings.

The couple were being brought back to the county together today (Thursday).

An inquest into their deaths opened yesterday (Wednesday).

During a brief hearing at St Pancras Coroner's Court, London, coroner Dr Andrew Reid was told that dental records were used to prove Samantha's identity.

Dr Reid adjourned the inquest until a future date as investigations into the bombings continued.

Cruel chance put Lee and Samantha on the tube train out of King's Cross. Lee, a 30-year-old architect, normally cycled to his office in the city, but that day he was heading for Heathrow where he was working on the new Terminal 5 project.

Among the many condolences sent to the Harris home was a message of sympathy from George Ferguson, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Samantha, a 36-year-old personal assistant, would usually drive to her job. She took the tube with Lee that morning because they were going for a meal and drinks later.

Inseparable for 14 years - an anniversary they would have celebrated two days after the blast - Lee and Samantha met at Hereford Lads Club when he was 17 and preparing for his Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award.

Samantha, then 23 and a keen sportswoman, was on the club committee.

Like so many of the county's young people, the couple went off to make new lives for themselves in London, where Lee went to university. Their home was in Tottenham.

Miss Badham and her younger sister, Louise, grew up in Ledbury. They lost their parents Helene and John some years ago.

The sisters were very close to the Harris family, from Little Birch. Louise kept a bedside vigil with Lee's parents, Lynne and Brian, at the Royal London Hospital during the week he spent on life support.

They came back to the county on Monday to jointly describe Lee and Samantha as a devoted couple, of whom they would always be proud.

Ledbury-based funeral director Hawcutt is handling arrangements for the joint funeral and is taking inquiries relating to the service on 01531 632084.