UPDATED 5.30PM

A BEREAVED Muslim family were wrongly told they would have to wait a week before burying a loved one in a council foul-up.

Councillor Paul Denham has had to intervene after a Muslim family were incorrectly told by Worcester City Council that it would not be possible to do a burial with a day.

Under Islamic custom, a grieving family is supposed to get the burial done usually no more than 24 hours later.

But last week the family, who have not been identified, were wrongly told it would take around a week - before Councillor Denham was contacted to help speed it up.

He managed to sort it out quickly, but has told city council officers to avoid any repeats after giving them a public ticking off.

"I want to raise concerns around the bereavement services, particularly around the needs of the Muslim community," he said.

"Ideally they want someone to be buried within 24 hours of their death.

"I had an approach last week from someone who said there'd been a death the previous evening, and the response from the council was 'we will fit you in the right part of the cemetery in a week's time'.

"As it happened, I was able to sort it out quite quickly but it shouldn't have needed my intervention for that to happen.

"For me it's one of those red lines - for that to happen it isn't good enough."

The city's cemetery is off Astwood Road in Perdiswell and is managed by the city council's bereavement services team.

The family were seeking to use the main site and not the volunteer-led Muslim plot.

There are only nine Muslims currently buried at the main site.

The confusion about the burial is being put down to staff training, with bosses saying it will not happen again.

Councillor Denham, a Labour politician who represents the Rainbow Hill, raised his concerns during a scrutiny meeting.

David Sutton, the city council's service manager for cleaner and greener, said: "I need to look into that but clearly it was not the correct method of communication."

Councillor Jabba Riaz has reported previous problems about struggling to get hold of coroner services during weekends, so death certificates can be issued to enable 24 hour burials.

After the meeting, Mr Sutton said: "This matter was originally brought to my attention by cabinet member Councillor Andy Roberts

"I have now thoroughly investigated it. Although original misinformation was given by the crematorium team, the situation was quickly rectified and we were able to make funeral arrangements which fully met the wishes of the family. 

"We would like to apologise for any upset that has been caused. 

"We don’t want to intrude at this sensitive time, but would be happy to meet the family to discuss the matter further at any point in the future, if they so wish.”