FAT people in Worcester are having to be cremated outside the city because the crematorium furnace is not big enough to cope.

Undertakers are having to take bodies to Bristol and Redditch to be cremated.

The problem has arisen because Astwood Road crematorium is too narrow for the super-sized coffins used for bigger people.

More than 400 councils across the country have been told by the Local Government Association to provide bigger furnaces to deal with fatter people.

Rob Evans, manager of Bedwardine Funeral Service, St John's, Worcester, said: "We have had to send some to Redditch or Bristol, where they have bigger crematoriums. It's certainly a problem in Worcester - most funeral directors have the same view.

"Unless a new crematorium is built in Worcester that can cater for over-sized coffins, it is going to be more and more regular, I'm afraid."

The firm currently sends about six over-sized coffins to be cremated outside the city every year.

Astwood Road cemetery can handle coffins 29in wide and 17in deep, compared with Redditch, which can take coffins 30in wide and 19in deep.

Darryl Mogg, manager of AV Band funeral directors, in St Nicholas Street, Worcester, said he was also aware of the problem.

He said: "All that we can do is deal with it as and when it arises. It can be difficult to speak to families - it can be embarrassing for them so we have to tread carefully."

Phil Burton, assistant parks and cemeteries manager at Worcester City Council, said he was unaware of any coffins being turned away.

He said: "We have regular meetings with the various undertakers based in and out of the city and the size of coffins is not an issue that has been raised before.

"But if there are some concerns we are happy to take them on board for future consideration."

A spokeswoman for Redditch Borough Council said: "We are not aware of an increase in the number of people being cremated here in Redditch from funeral directors based in Worcester - but national figures have shown an increase in the size of population."

Malvern funeral director FW Spilsbury, of Upper Holswell Road, said it was not aware of a problem in the town, which uses Worcester Crematorium.

Meanwhile, Herefordshire Council said it is in the process of building a bigger crematorium with a wider furnace by the end of 2008.

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