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A ballot of 1,000 places at a memorial service for Professor Stephen Hawking has opened to the public.

The ashes of the physicist, who died on 14 March at the age of 76, will be interred at Westminster Abbey between the graves of Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

The service will take place at the Abbey on 15 June and Prof Hawking's three children are offering up to 1,000 free tickets to the public through the ballot system, run by the Stephen Hawking Foundation.

Lucy Hawking said: "We are so grateful to Westminster Abbey for offering us the privilege of a service of thanksgiving for the extraordinary life of our father and for giving him such a distinguished final resting place.

"We are also very pleased to be able to offer tickets to the public so that our father's many admirers will have the chance to join in the service."

Diagnosed with motor neurone disease in his 20s, for much of his time in the public eye his illness confined him to a wheelchair and, from 1985, he communicated through a computer.

At the age of 37 Hawking was the Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge, a chair formerly held by Isaac Newton and the "father of the computer" Charles Babbage.

His book "A Brief History of Time" was published in 1988 and entered the Guinness Book of Records after staying on The Sunday Times bestseller list for 237 weeks.

The book sold 10m copies and was translated into 40 different languages, but is famously referred to as one of the "greatest unread books in history".

The Dean of Westminster, The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, said: "The service of thanksgiving for the life and work of Stephen Hawking will celebrate not only his remarkable achievements as a scientist, but also his character and endurance through his years living with a devastating illness."

:: The ticket ballot for the service of thanksgiving closes at midnight on 15 May and applications for tickets can be made by visiting