Telford cremations off as work carried out

There will be no cremations at Telford Crematorium for two weeks, funeral bosses said today.

The cremator will be out of action from Wednesday for vital maintenance works, but funeral services will go ahead as normal. Dignity Funerals, which runs the site in Woodhouse Lane, Redhill, today said no cremations would be able to take place until the start of April.

Instead, coffins will be transported in a hearse to Perry Barr in Birmingham – the nearest crematorium run by the firm.

Cremated remains will be returned to Telford on the next working day if possible, while families have also been offered the chance to postpone funerals.

Dignity Funerals corporate communications manager Stuart Cox said the cremator was unavailable as important maintenance work had to be carried out.

He said: "This work is vital if we are to continue to provide our normal high levels of service in the future.

"In order to ensure our service to the local community isn't adversely affected, we've made arrangements to allow funeral services to continue as normal at Telford, with a local crematorium undertaking the cremation of coffins.

"During this period we will be transporting coffins in a hearse to Perry Barr Crematorium, Birmingham for cremation. Cremated remains will be returned to Telford to enable the funeral directors or families to collect them as early as is possible on the next working day after the funeral.

"All families arranging the funeral service are aware of this procedure and have signed paperwork to give their consent to it.

"This is considered best practice by The Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities. There will be no additional cost to the families we serve.

"In addition all local funeral directors have been informed in writing of our plans.

"Our normal service will resume once this work has been completed."