Undertakers bear cost of funerals

A funeral director says the economic downturn is forcing him to pick up the tab for dozens of burials and cremations.

Johnathan Bewley, who runs funeral parlours across Wiltshire, operates a payment scheme to help low-income families meet the costs.

He said the scheme did not always cover the cost of a funeral, but some people could not afford to pay the difference.

Unlike other businesses, he said, it was difficult to pursue debtors.

"We provided the service, we can't leave people unburied," he said.

"Funerals have to take place. What can we do, do we take them to the small claims court, are we the villains of the peace, the undertakers? We are the ones who lose out in the end."