Yahoo News Hereford pensioner frustrated after 'ridiculous' funeral problem
A PENSIONER from Hereford was left frustrated after he attended a funeral at the crematorium where elderly and disabled people were forced to stand due to insufficient seating.
Maxwell Davies said that at the funeral of one of his best friends, the late Ron Davies from Kingswood, over 80 people were standing, many of these being older people with mobility problems.
"It's ridiculous. When someone popular from the country dies, lots of people want to go to their funeral, but there's not enough space. Everyone knows each other round here so funerals can be quite big. Ron Davies was a very popular lad and the seats got filled up very quickly," he said.
He recalled how, at the recent funeral he attended, several "husbands had to get up from their seats and leave their wives" so that more women could sit down, with most of the funeral attendees being over 70 years old.
Maxwell Davies was recently at the funeral of Ron Davies (Image: Rob Davies)
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He said there should be more seats at the crematorium so that people can pay their respects at funerals in comfort, without having to stand when they may find this difficult due to their age or disabilities.
Hereford Crematorium is run by the council and has a seated capacity of 120.
A spokesperson for Herefordshire Council said: “The crematorium has seating for 120 people which does cater for the majority of services held. Unfortunately it would not be possible to expand the number of seats within the current service room without compromising entry or exit points.”
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The web page for the crematorium says: "The crematorium is accessible with ample parking. The chapel can seat up to 120 people with additional standing room. There is an organ, a digital sound system with a large library of music and two screens for photo or video tributes.
"We are also able to offer a live web link to relatives or friends who are unable to attend the service."
