Funeral delay apology to mourners

A lack of staff means delays in burials

Mourners who want to bury their relatives in Shrewsbury cemetery are having to wait for three weeks, instead of the usual week, for funerals.

Staff shortages and an increase in winter deaths has caused delays in services at the Longden Road site.

David Wraith, Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council's Environmental Health Manager, apologised for the delays but said they were out of his control.

He said because of staff sickness they could only cope with one burial a day.

More deaths

Mr Wraith said there were normally four employees dealing with burials, but two were on long-term sick leave. They did a specialist job and it was difficult to take on temporary help.

"When we have got full staff, we can only cope with two burials per day across the borough anyway. With only two staff we are down to one a day," he added.

He said there tended to be an increase in deaths during the winter period and there had been a bigger increase than normal this year.