Undertaker sacked for sawing a coffin that was too big for a crematorium furnace
AN undertaker has been sacked for sawing up a coffin that was too big for a crematorium furnace.
The funeral director, in his 40s, removed the lid and cut down the sides of the casket after a service.
Shocked workers at the council facility reported him to bosses at Co-operative Funeralcare. The family of the deceased had no idea at the time but have since had a formal letter of apology.
Undertakers have to check coffin sizes and book venues with an adequate-sized chamber.
However the one at Plymouth’s Efford Cemetery and Crematorium — measuring 84ins long, 30ins wide and 20ins high — was too small for the casket.
A source said: “Straight away it was realised it wouldn’t fit.
‘STAFF WERE SHOCKED’
“The staff said to the funeral director, ‘We’ve got a problem’.
“He should have held his hands up, sat the family down and said, ‘We need to take your beloved somewhere else’.
“But instead he’s come back and cut the coffin up with a saw. He’s taken the lid off and cut down the sides.
“Staff were shocked. The crematorium was built years ago and they did not foresee a time when size might be an issue.
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“The funeral director’s been doing this a long time. Alarm bells should have started ringing when the paperwork was done.”
Profits at Co-op Funeralcare — the UK’s biggest undertaking firm — slumped by £17million to £25million last year amid a price war with rivals Dignity.
Co-op apologised unreservedly. Director David Collingwood said: “We are appalled. Our concern is for the family and we have met with them to offer our deepest apologies.”
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