Funeral cost price hike slammed by undertakers

Kirklees Council has been criticised for raising its burial prices by local funeral directors. A standard adult grave will now cost £770, up from £720, while the cost of burial has been pushed up to £696 from £650.

Richard Fearnley, a funeral director in Dewsbury and Mirfield, said the increases were “absolutely ridiculous”. “It’s got to the stage where it’s completely ripping people off and funerals are getting so expensive that people can’t even afford them,” he said.

From today, it will cost £214 to bury an eight by 10 inch casket for cremated remains. “If we were to do this privately at a church, the fee is £40,” Richard said.

“For somebody to go out and dig a hole two feet deep for £214, it beggars belief.”

Funeral costs are cheaper in private churchyards than in council graveyards.

The combined cost of a council grave and burial is now £1,466.

“If we were having private diggers in a graveyard it would be £350,” Mr Fearnley said.

An adult cremation now costs £556, while a full set of timber for an adult Muslim burial costs £305.

A council spokesperson said: “Charges in Kirklees are comparable with other local authorities in the region, all of whom will be following suit by reviewing their own fees in the near future.

“The rise in charges reflects an increase in energy costs and is needed to ensure bereavement services continue to develop and improve.”